


Killers and Kids

by Ethan_Sage_Wolf



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Baby Castiel, Family Fluff, Fluff, Kid Balthazar, Kid Dean Winchester, Kid Fic, Kid Gabriel, Kid Lucifer, Kid Michael, Kid Sam Winchester, Killing, Original Character(s), Other, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-08-11 20:37:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7906888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ethan_Sage_Wolf/pseuds/Ethan_Sage_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Wolf Brothers were cold hearted killers, it's what they did for a living and they did it well.</p>
<p>After a job, Sage (the youngest brother) comes across a two year old angel in a cardboard box with two mortal children. Unable to do any harm to the children, Sage decides to take them.</p>
<p>But one angel soon becomes two, then three, then five. With seven kids, the cops on their tail and a very dangerous job, will the brothers hearts be thawed out? Or will they still kill?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Baby in a Box

**Author's Note:**

> First story on here but I hope you enjoy. Dedicated to my good friend, Aimee, who got me obsessed with this fandom :)  
> Feedback and comments are very appreciated.  
> Thanks x

The fresh blood trickled down his cheeks, it splattered over his hands and face creating a pattern of red speckles. The victim clung to him, gasping for air as blood filled his lungs and began to ooze off his bottom lip. The warm liquid dripped from the cavity in his chest, further coating his hands and blade, causing a wicked smirk to form on his lips. He flung his victim to the floor, with enough force to knock a few books from the shelves, before proceeding to wipe his blood covered hands on to his jeans, completely coating the thigh portion of his pants. "Have fun in Hell," he sneered letting a quiet chuckle escape his lips before he strode out of the living room. He entered the hallway, glancing from left to right, "Eth! Mine's down!"

He awaited a response from his older brother who had decided to inspect the first floor of the house. The living fell silent as his victim's struggle for air ceased, his smirk turning wicked before he glided to the bottom of the staircase. He leaned against the banister, picking at his nails whilst waiting for his brother. Glancing up, he caught sight of his brother at the top of the staircase with another person's blood caking the shirt he wore and his pearly white smile gleaming in the moonlight. "We're finished here," he declared descending the staircase. The man nodded, he quickly jogged back to the living room and yanked his blade from his victim's body. He inspected his blade, taking a scrap of fabric from his back pocket and wiping the blood from the silver blade. His brother had left the house, tucking his pistol back into its holster, and entered the driver's side of their truck. The man followed, blade in hand, and sat himself in the passenger seat. His brother pulled away from their latest crime scene and made his way back to the motel they were hiding out in. The man let out a loud sigh, leaning back into his seat and polishing his blade off, "where's the next target?"

His brother's response was a mere shake of his head, "let's just rest up and clean up." He didn't bother arguing with his brother, it had been a long night and both men were irritable. "Okay Eth, sounds good," he agreed letting his head rest against the head rest. His brother looked at him from the corner of his eye, looking his little brother up and down before chuckling. "You actually agreeing with your big bro for a change Sage?"

He couldn't help but joke with Sage as his little brother was usually stubborn and would create an argument. Sage scoffed, "nah. Just tired Ethan," he muttered with his voice full of tiredness. Ethan punched his shoulder playfully and let out a sharp laugh. "Okay bro, I believe ya," Ethan said sarcastically making his focus turn back to the road. Sage scoffed again and nodded...

_~1 hour later~_

"Sage. Yo bro. We're at the motel."

Sage groaned as his brother's bear sized hands shook him from his peaceful sleep. "Okay man, I'll be two minutes," the younger brother grumbled in his husky, sleep-filled voice trying intensely to swat Ethan's hands away. The older brother smiled at him and walked to the trunk, popping it open and checking the tags on the two duffle bags. "Sage! Which bag is yours?"

He groaned again, this time swivelling in his seat and hoisting his jacket up over his head. "They're labelled for a reason dumbass," Sage snapped. Ethan checked the labels again, smiling when he lifted the strap to reveal his initials stitched into the bag material. "Found it," he announced lifting the bag from the trunk and slamming the trunk shut. "Good for you," Sage muttered under his breath, dragging his legs up on to the seat to curl up into a comfortable ball whilst his brother entered the motel. After ten minutes, he stretched his blood-soaked and exhausted body allowing his muscles to loosen and become less tense. A relaxed sigh escaped his lips, he pushed himself out of the truck and proceeded to grab his own duffle bag. He slung the bag of weapons over his shoulder and tucked his blade behind his jacket, securing it with the waistband of his jeans and entering his motel room. The younger brother threw his duffle bag on to his bed, unzipped it and rummaged through the mass amount of guns and ammo in search of a clean shirt and jeans.

Sage glanced at Ethan, the older brother already in clean clothes and concentrated on checking the ammo supply for his guns. He pulled off his plaid shirt, tossing it to the side carelessly and pulled on the fresh plain black t-shirt. He then proceeded to unfasten his belt and unbutton his jeans, quickly being interrupted by a cough from his brother. "What?"

"Don't strip in front of me."

"Why? You never care when it's your ass is flashing in my face, besides I'm only changing my jeans not my boxers," protested Sage continuing to slip his jeans off, being sure to remove his blade first. Ethan went back to counting pistol rounds whilst his brother changed. Once changed, Sage collapsed on to his bed, stomach first, and stretched out of his exhausted limbs. "Man, that job took it out of me," the younger brother mumbled into his pillow causing his brother to chuckle. "That'll be a first," remarked Ethan. Sage threw his pillow at Ethan but the older caught it with his eyes still concentrated on his ammunition, "nice try."

The younger brother scoffed but quickly groaned, "dammit. I left the keys in the truck."

"Well, go get 'em."

He pushed himself off his bed and pulled on his boots again. Sage pulled on his leather jacket, glanced at Ethan and then strode outside. Thunder clouds had began to roll in but no rain had set in, thankfully. He jogged to his truck, flung open the driver door and snatched the keys out of the ignition. "Gotcha," he declared with a smirk on his lips and slipped the keys into his jacket pocket.

Upon reaching the motel door, a baby like gurgle caught the younger brother's ear and caused him to freeze with his hand on the door handle. His curiosity peaked and Sage moved his hand to the handle of his blade, cautiously wandering into the small alleyway next to their motel room. There wasn't much in the alley, mainly trashcans surround by trash bags. He walked right to the back of the alley, looking from left to right, but couldn't find the source of the noise. Yet he heard the noise again but, even with his acute sense of hearing, couldn't pinpoint the source of the sound. "Come out now or I'll cut a hole in your chest," he threatened and the gurgling stopped. Quiet sobbing started in its place causing Sage's eyes to soften and start looking around for the source.

His ears led him straight to a sealed cardboard box laying by one of the trashcans. He squatted down, clutching his knife tightly and inspecting the box. Loud sobbing made him jerk back from the box but he regained his composure and sliced own the tape with his blade. The two flaps popped up and Sage peeled them back to reveal something he didn't expect to see.

Laying in the box, with raven hair, a pair of wings of the same colour and bright blue eyes, was a little boy staring up at Sage. The child had tears cascading down his flustered cheeks and wore nothing but a white cloth wrapped around his bum. Sage didn't know what to make of his discovery, the boy (no older than two) was clearly in distress and it had been himself who had scared the toddler with his deep, raspy voice. To add to his decision making process, a few droplets of rain trickled down the back of Sage's neck making him shiver. "Shit," he muttered under his breath. "Up."

He glanced down at the boy with a confused look. "Up? What does up mean kid?"

"Up! Up!" The toddler outstretched his arms and made grabby hands at the younger Wolf brother. Sage, very gingerly, picked the boy up holding him at arms length away from him. He looked the boy up and down quickly before the rain came down heavier, Sage ran inside still holding the small angel away from him. Sage kicked the door shut causing it to slam, this catching Ethan's attention as he looked up from polishing his handguns. "Sage? What is that?"

"An alien," he replied sarcastically, "it's a kid Ethan," he snapped. Ethan rose from the stool he was sitting on and proceeded to take the baby angel into his arms, actually cradling the boy. "Well, he's not a bomb. Why didn't you hold him properly?"

Sage growled quietly, muttering cusses under his breath whilst his brother gently bounced the toddler. "Wasn't exactly the first thing running through my mind when I found a kid in a fuckin' box," snapped Sage in a calm tone. Ethan ignored him and run his hand across the top of the raven black wings on the boy's back, "such beautiful wings and nothing like he created before."

"Yeah, well, nice to see he's growing out of the golds and the whites."

Ethan looked at Sage and then back down at the baby angel, smiling like a proud father that was holding his child for the first time. "Did you get the truck keys?"

"No, I left them out there. Of course I got the truck keys."

"Well come on then."

Sage looked puzzled, "come on? Come on where?"

"The store dumbass, this kid's gonna need stuff."

Sage looked even more puzzled, "you can't be serious? We're not keeping a kid."

"He's got nobody else Sage and you found so, he's staying," Ethan said before leaving the motel room with the boy still safely cradled in his arms. Sage growled but knew there was no use in arguing once Ethan had made his mind up. He reluctantly followed his older brother, who was now sitting in the passenger seat of the truck with child, and sat himself in the driver's seat. "Are you gonna stay mad this entire time?"

"Depends. Is your feathery ass still wanting to keep that kid?"

Ethan nodded, carefully moving the toddler to his other arm whilst keeping full focus on Sage. "He needs someone," argued Ethan as Sage pulled out of the parking lot. "An orphanage could be an option," retorted the younger brother under his breath but that didn't stop the older brother from hearing him. "No. No orphanage especially since he's an angel."

"What difference does that make?"

"How is a mortal gonna handle a baby angel? We've done it before--"

"You've done it before," Sage interjected, cutting off his brother from finishing his argument. "I was never trusted," he continued turning on to a main road. Ethan sighed, leaning back into his seat with the boy held close to his chest, "you were trusted. You just never wanted to help." Sage groaned, turning again, and glanced at his older brother. "Has the kid got a name?"

"I don't know. Did you find anything that gave us a hint?"

Sage shook his head. "The way you see him is the way I found him, no note, no nothing," he replied. Ethan looked down at the baby angel, the boy's tiny hands clutching to Ethan's plaid shirt whilst his little face nuzzled into the older brother's chest. He looked so peaceful. Ethan nudged him gently, the pair of bright blue eyes immediately looking up at him, both sparkling in the moonlight. "Hey kid, do you have a name?"

"Cas. Wy name ws Cas," the boy stated proudly, smiling up at Ethan. "Is that short for something?"

"Castiel." Ethan smiled at how proud the boy looked as he said his name but Sage remained expressionless and quiet, he still wasn't all for this babysitting endeavour that his older brother had signed them up for but arguing was useless.

The store was relatively quiet with only a few late night shoppers scanning the isles for bargains they could not acquire in the morning/afternoon rush. Ethan pushed the cart whilst Sage grabbed things of the shelves he assumed Cas would need. Castiel sat happily in the child compartment of the cart, playing with the sleeves of Sage's jacket which was covering the small wings protruding from the small boy's back. The younger brother looked at the array of children's clothing and then at the baby angel and then at his brother, looking for some guidance. "Would you say he's a two or a three year old?"

Ethan studied Cas carefully, causing the little boy to giggle, until he reached his answer, "two." Sage nodded and sidestepped down to the toddler section, "hey bro. I don't think they offer clothes for kids with wings." He couldn't help but joke about the wings and Ethan smiled at this. "We'll work around the wings," he replied with a soft smile directed to both his brother and their baby angel. Sage tosses a few shirts, pants and socks into their cart along with a small pair of blue and white sneakers. They moved on to scouring the shelves for baby bottles and the formula that went with them when Cas began crying loudly, disrupting the quiet of the store. Sage's eyes shot to his brother and the hysterical angel, his eyes now pulsating magenta as Castiel's shrill cries echoed through the isles. The older brother became panicked, his own eyes now fiercely glowing amber, "Cas? What's wrong?"

The child just cried harder and balled his fists up tight, only to rub his eyes furiously. Sage jogged over to his brother, the thought of attracting attention pushing to the front of his mind causing his eyes to pulsate harder and faster. "What the fuck is the problem?"

"I don't know. He just started screaming," explained Ethan, his hand shaking from panic coursing his body. Sage turned his attention to the distressed angel, his instinctively softening at the sight of the waves of tears flooding Cas' small face, and placed his large hands on the angel's tiny forearms. He rubbed up and down as soothingly as he could manage. "Kid, you gotta tell us what's wrong so we can help you," Sage said in a very forced soothing tone to mask his annoyance with the whole situation.

"Dwirty! Dwirty!"

Sage glanced over his shoulder at Ethan with a confused expression but could tell the cogs were ticking over in his older brother's head. "Ethan?" Sage snapped his fingers in Ethan's face, bringing the elder brother out of his deep though and back to reality and the situation they faced. "Go get diapers. Now," Ethan demanded whilst carefully lifting Cas out of the child compartment. It then clicked with Sage and he darted down the isle, snatching a packet of diapers off the shelf and returning to his brother's side. He handed Ethan the packet, watching his brother, with one hand, rip open the packet and pull out one clean diaper. "I'll be back," stated Ethan, turning on his heel and wandering off with Castiel crying on his shoulder.

Ethan had never been so thankful for baby changing areas in his life. He locked the door and laid Cas down on the plastic changing table, which folded down from the wall, before grabbing a handful of paper towels and wetting them under the fossit. He wrung them out until they were damp and placed them by Cas' head. He removed Sage's jacket from around the boy's shoulders and looked down at the white cloth that covered Castiel's bum. It was now stained yellow and completely soaked with the young boy's pee, some of the liquid dribbling down Cas' inner thighs. Ethan groaned in disgust, his face screwing up at what he was about to do but he shrugged it off, knowing it had to be done. The older brother untied the knot in the material and, very delicately, removed the cloth leaving the toddler naked on the changing table. Ethan disposed of the cloth and turned back to the baby angel, the poor boy was shivering from being completely exposed to the elements causing him to whimper. "Hang on Cas. I'll be done in a minute," cooed Ethan, his voice naturally soft and light. He picked up one of the dampened paper towels, then he gently took Cas' ankle in his free hand and wiped down his inner right thigh. Ethan switched to the left and wiped down that thigh before taking both of Cas' ankles and gently hoisting him up to wipe down his bum and private parts. With angelic care, Ethan slid the diaper under Cas' bum and lay the boy down flat again and fastened the diaper.

Cas' crying quietened until all that could be heard was tiny hiccups as his bright blue eyes glistened from the tears. The baby angel looked up at Ethan, stray tears still trickling down his flustered cheeks. Using his thumb, Ethan tenderly wiped away the tears, with a genuine soft smile, and carefully sat Cas up. "All better," announced Ethan picking his brother's jacket up and wrapping it around Cas' shoulder, being careful of the raven black wings that flapped gently at the touch of the jacket. "Fank wou," Cas said quietly, smiling at Ethan. "Ethan," he stated realising the child didn't know his name. Cas tilted his head, the confusion causing the older Wolf brother to chuckle. "My name is Ethan."

Cas squealed and nodded excitedly, "I wike wou!"

A small smile tugged at Ethan's lips, not many people had ever said they liked him especially a child. "Thanks kid, now let's go get Sage," he replied causing Cas to squeal happily again and make grabby hands for his new friend. Ethan scooped the boy into his arms and exited the changing room. However on their way back to Sage and the cart, a shelf of stuffed animals caught the toddler's eyes and he excitedly tugged at Ethan's jacket collar. He pointed to it and Ethan casually walked over to it, examining all the toys on the shelf. Cas grabbed a wolf toy off the shelf and hugged it tightly to his chest, "Puppy! Puppy!" Cas squealed excitedly waving the toy in Ethan's face.

"Would you like the toy Cas?"

Cas nodded eagerly, making the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could manage and made his bottom lip stick out in a pout. Ethan laughed to himself, finding Cas' display extremely cute and very much irresistible, "okay. We'll get the toy." Cas, suddenly, hugged Ethan tightly, Sage's jacket slipping off the boy's naked boy but Ethan quickly caught it and readjusted it over Cas' shoulders. Something about caring for this baby in his arms brought Ethan a weird, fuzzy feeling in his stomach but he wasn't fighting the sensation, in fact he liked it. Eventually they caught up with Sage, who had collected the rest of the supplies the boys would require for their new partner, and Ethan set Cas back in the child compartment of the cart. They strolled up to the cash register and the brothers looked at each other.

"Sage. We don't have--"

"No Ethan. I was a little quick to react earlier. If you wanna keep the little guy, then we keep him and we'll work as a team."

"Like always?"

"Like always." 


	2. More Kids, More Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two brothers break into the Wolf's motel room. Sage doesn't want three kids interfering with their job but Ethan doesn't want to leave them alone. A lot of conflict between the twins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the Hits and Kudos! :)

The cashier slowly scanned each of the items, every so often she'd turn and coo at Cas before going back to scan the diapers and baby bottles. Sage's patience was wearing thin, his temper quietly simmering beneath the surface but he never let it show in his face. Ethan, however, stood with great patience, packing their supplies into the plastic bags provided. Cas entertained himself by watching Ethan or giggling at every time Sage grumbled under his breath at the cashier. Eventually the woman said their total and, as always, the brother's halved it with each other.

The older Wolf set the bags back in the cart and wheeled it outside with Sage close behind, the younger fiddling with his phone. Ethan grabbed one of Cas' new shirts along with a pair of pants and socks, he opened the trunk of their truck and cleared a space to lay Cas down. However getting the baby angel to cooperate and put on clothes proved more difficult than it would seem, Cas was adamant not to have any fabric touch his skin causing Ethan to groan quietly. He managed to slip the shirt on with relative ease but trying to pull on the tiny pair of jeans was another story. "Come on Cas, just let me put these on you," groaned Ethan. He took both of Cas' ankles in his large hand and gently pinned Cas' bare legs down as the constant kicking at his chest had become extremely annoying. "No Efan! No pants!" The boy protested against the pants once again and attempted to kick out of Ethan's grip but with little success.

Sage merely watched his older brother wrestle with the toddler, who was now using his wings as a weapon and was beating on either side of Ethan's head, and let out a quiet laugh when Ethan tried deflecting the wings with his arms and his eyes shining amber in frustration. He couldn't not help Ethan, so he stepped forward and pinned Cas' wings down with no regard for how gentle or rough he was being. Suddenly the child let out a loud cry and tried kicking out of Ethan's grip much more furiously than before, "my ings! It huwts!"

Cas cried out again, tears flooding his cheeks, as he kicked and screamed. Ethan felt his patience snap, he let go of Cas' ankles and roughly shoved his brother away from the screaming toddler. The older brother's eyes flashed between light and dark shades of amber as his patience and temper tried to regain balance. Before Ethan could speak, Sage backed away from the trunk and left Ethan to continue dressing Cas. Cas sniffled, dribbles of snot leaking from his nose with tears staining his reddened cheeks. Ethan plucked a wipe from its packet and gently wiped Cas' face clean before lifting the boy on to his shoulder and sliding the dark blue jeans on to him with little protest. His eyes pulsated less whilst he sat the toddler in the car seat they had purchased, however Cas kept fidgeting and trying to break the buckle that confined him to the seat.

"Kid. Quit it. What's wrong?"

"My ings! My ings!"

Ethan looked at Cas' black wings and found that not both the boy and the wings were going to fit inside the car seat, so he took his hand and, very tenderly, ran it along the top of the wings making them fold back and disappear. Ethan looked at Cas with a proud smile on his lips but the toddler looked less than amused as panic flooded his little mind. "My ings! Where my ings?!"

Sage laughed loudly, banging his fist on the top of the truck whilst he laughed into the metal, "nice try bro."

Ethan ignored his younger brother and placed his hand on Cas' little shoulder, squeezed it reassuringly and smiled at the little boy. "It's okay kid. Your wings are still there, they're just invisible," Ethan reassured. The boy's head tilted slightly, his oceans staring up at Ethan filled with confusion. "Inwisible?"

Ethan chuckled at the boy's mispronunciation of the big word, "yeah. Invisible. Nobody can see them and they won't get in your way," explained the older brother causing the baby angel to giggle and squeal happily. Ethan ruffled Cas' black, already messy, hair and shut over the truck and trunk doors. Sage had sat himself in the driver's seat, listening to 'Dance with the Devil', pleasantly drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. Ethan slid into the passenger seat, a tense atmosphere filling the air between the twins, and glanced at his younger brother with apologetic eyes. "Sage?", he asked in a very quiet voice.

He didn't respond, the younger brother continued to drum his fingers against the steering wheel with no interest in whatever apology or speech his brother was about to spout. Ethan sighed, "I didn't mean to fly off the handle. I just don't want any attention on us," he explained hoping it would be enough to coax his brother into talking. Sage nodded, a simple gesture to save his pride and express his arrogance, and Ethan felt another flare of rage bubble inside of him. Sage knew Ethan's reasoning was valid but hated admitting that his older brother was right, which he'd had to do on several occasions during their time on earth. He looked to Ethan through the corner of his eye, the large amber eyes staring out the passenger window and watching the raindrops race each other to the bottom, and sighed. "I get it. You don't gotta apologise, I shouldn't have gone straight for those damn wings," Sage replied quietly, his eyes focused on the steering wheel.

Ethan looked over to his younger brother, placed his hand on Sage's shoulder and squeezed it firmly. He smiled softly, "I would've grabbed the wings too."

Sage let out a quiet laugh and playfully smacked the back of his brother's head. "Shut it. We both know you wouldn't have," replied the younger brother. Ethan pretended to look offended by Sage's response and shoved him lightly with the hand that was gripping the latter's shoulder. Both brothers' attention was drawn to the baby angel when Cas let out a loud yawn and rubbed his ocean blue eyes. Ethan cracked a smile, "start driving. He'll fall asleep pretty quickly."

"Whatever you say mother hen."

Sage chuckled at his own comment before starting the truck's ignition and slowly pulling out of the parking lot.

Ethan carried, a now sleeping, Castiel inside their motel room whilst Sage lugged several grocery bags, filled to the brim with Cas' supplies, directly behind.

"Where's he gonna sleep?"

The thought had crossed neither brothers' mind. They hadn't bothered to pick up a crib due to the fact they were constantly travelling and the twins could agree that letting him sleep beside one of them wasn't safe. Ethan slept peacefully but was a light sleeper, one creek of a floor board or the tap of a toddler would awake him and cause him to clutch the blade that hid under his pillow. Sage, on the other hand, was a heavy sleeper but was restless for several different reasons, the main reason being his nightmares. So with those options being thrown off the table, Ethan narrowed it down to the couch or one of the dresser drawers. "We can't put him on the couch, one wrong move and he'll hit the floor or worse, the damn coffee table," argued Sage, for once thinking rationally rather than upon instinct.

"The drawer it is then," Ethan stated handing Cas to Sage and pulling the middle drawer of the dresser open. Sage watched his brother lay three blankets on the bottom of the drawer to pad it and then lay one of the pillows from Ethan's bed on top of them. The older Wolf tenderly took the angel in his arms again and gently lay him down on the couch. "Get me a pair of pyjamas and make a bottle," commanded Ethan.

"I don't know how to make a bottle."

"That's why there's instructions on the formula container dipshit," the older brother joked causing his little brother to grumble but do as he was told. He rummaged through the plastic bags, tossing a pair of dark blue pyjamas on the counter along with a baby bottle and a container of formula. Sage threw the pyjamas to his brother and quickly turned his attention back to preparing a bottle for the two year old.

Ethan held Cas up in a sitting position and gently pulled the top up over his head. "Sage? Did we buy some of those vest things that toddlers and babies wear?"

"How the hell am I suppose to know? I couldn't tell you what half of this stuff is."

The older brother groaned, "just check, will ya?"

Sage dug through the plastic bags again and threw a packet of light blue vests to his brother. Ethan smiled his thanks and turned back to the sleeping angel, carefully laying him back down on the couch. He tugged off Cas' jeans, Sage noticing the fatherly quality shining through his brother's tough exterior causing him to smile, and checked his diaper, smiling when it was dry. Ethan tore open the packet of vests, unfolding the first one and carefully pulling it over Cas' head before buttoning it shut. With the same care and tenderness, Ethan changed Cas into the soft dark blue pyjamas and held the boy on his hip.

By that time Sage had figured out how to make the formula and handed Ethan the bottle, again watching Ethan's fatherly self shine through as the eldest Wolf brother lay the baby angel in the makeshift crib with the warm bottle at one side and the stuffed wolf on the other. The older brother then took the fluffiest blanket he could find and tucked the toddler in, running his hand over Cas' hair before collapsing on to his own bed. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

Ethan propped himself up on his elbows, a puzzled expression plastered to his face, and tilted his head. "Learn to do what?"

"Be all fatherly and shit. You sure as shit didn't pick it up from our dad."

The older twin shrugged, "just a natural response to something so innocent I suppose."

Sage nodded and packed away the last of the toddler's supplies before laying down on his own bed. He peeled his own shirt off and tossed it on top of his duffle bag. He glanced at the faint scars that were scattered around his abs and chest, a quiet sigh escaping his lips. "Battle scars," he muttered under his breath. Ethan rolled on to his side to look at his brother, his eyes drifting to the scars, "it's just a reminder of our old lives brother."

"Yeah. The many wars we fought for such stupid reasons."

"Is that why you don't talk to him anymore?"

Sage turned away from his older brother, the scars on his back now facing Ethan. "It's part of the reason. The whole 'never being a real father' thing also plays a huge part," Sage replied with a bitter and resentful tone. Ethan sighed "maybe we should sleep. There's other cases to look at tomorrow."

"Yeah. Night Eth."

"Night Sage."

**THUMP!**

Ethan sat up in a hurry, ripping the blade out from underneath his pillow and scanning the small motel room for the source of the noise. Sage was still asleep, and to Ethan's surprise, so was Cas but something still felt off. Ethan threw off his duvet and slipped out of his bed, clutching his blade so tight his knuckles were white. His eyes glowed amber brightly, his first instincts driving him to check on Cas, to be sure the noise hadn't been the boy falling from the drawer but when Ethan got to the baby angel, he hadn't moved. Castiel was still tucked under the fluffy blanket with the stuffed wolf clutched to his chest and his tiny thumb in his mouth.

He let out a sigh of relief, running his hand through Cas' dark hair and smiling when the small boy nuzzled into the palm of his large hand. The floor creaked behind him, the older Wolf spinning on his heel to face the living room area of the motel room. "Who's there?"

There was no response, only the sound of muffled whispers from the front of the couch triggering Ethan's protective older brother senses. His eyes shone as he crept forward, the whispers gradually getting louder the closer he got. He peered over the top of the couch, his eyes shining brighter as they landed upon two small bodies bunched together and holding each other close. A deep growl filled the air as it escaped Ethan's lips causing one of the little bodies to whimper and cling to its partner tightly. One of the little head swivelled round to look up at the eldest brother, a pair of fear-filled green eyes stared up at him as they were pleading with him. "Please don't hurt my brother!"

"Shh," Ethan snapped, "I'm not going to hurt you but you have to be quiet." His voice was harsh and still slightly husky from waking up. He tucked his blade away, between the waistband of his jeans and his back, and knelt down to the height of the two small figures. Now close enough to see, Ethan could tell these were two, frightened children and instantly his expression and eyes softened. He examined both children, the green eyed boy wore a tattered plaid shirt and had short dark blonde hair to couple the eyes. The other child, also a boy, was slightly smaller than his companion and had chocolate brown eyes with hair of a similar colour but it was longer than the first boy. He looked closer, noticing a patch of blood on the shorter boy's knee. "Are you hurt?"

The child nodded, pointing to the bloody knee whilst keeping the other hand firmly planted on his partner's shoulder. "May I take a look at it?"

The brown eyes looked up at him, filled with fear and panic, as they quickly darted to the owner of the green eyes. They began whispering to one and other and eventually the child nodded. Ethan rose to his feet, standing at his full height of 6'4, and looked down at the boys. "I'm gonna pick you up, okay?"

Again the boy nodded. Ethan tucked his hands under the boy's armpits and lifted him on to his hip. The green eyed boy got to his feet, briskly making  his way to Ethan's side with his eyes never leaving the other boy. Ethan sat the little boy on the kitchen counter and, with great care, rolled back the mucky pant leg to expose the grazed knee. "When did this happen?"

"Two days ago," squeaked the little boy, his voice so quiet and shy. Ethan nodded, grabbing a cloth and wetting it under warm water. "Have you two got names?"

"I'm Dean and-" the green eyed boy pointed to his partner, "that's Sam. He's my little brother." Ethan nodded again, beginning to dab Sam's wound clean. He would become tense every time the boy winced or hissed in pain, memories of cleaning Sage's wounds clean flooding his memory but he didn't let them distract him from his current task. "And how old are you two?"

It was Dean that answered again, giving Ethan the impression that he was the more confident of the two brothers and reminded him of himself when he and Sage were this small. "I'm five and Sammy's four sir," the boy replied, shifting on the spot as nerves and fear shook his small body. Ethan opened the cupboard directing in front of him but then glanced at Dean, "call me Ethan. I never liked being called sir," Ethan insisted gently. Dean nodded shyly. Ethan rummaged through the cupboard for the bottle of antiseptic Sage had bought after a victim slashed him across the chest, he grabbed the small black bottle and set it by Sam's thigh. He closed over the cupboard door and looked back at Sam, a few tears had escaped and were cascading down the boy's mud speckled cheeks.

Using his thumb, Ethan wiped away the tears and picked up the damp cloth, sprinkling the antiseptic on it. He looked back up into Sam's eyes and saw nothing but fear, it struck Ethan straight in the heart but that was strange to him. Was he still a cold-hearted killer?

"This will sting a little," he warned softly but Sam whimpered. Ethan placed the cloth on Sam's wound, unaware of the reaction he was about to face. The small boy screamed at the top of his lungs, clawing at Ethan's hand which was firmly clamped to his knee. His eyes filled with more tears as he sobbed loudly. "Take it off! Pwease! It hurt!" Sam continued to pull and claw at Ethan's hand but the eldest brother's hand wouldn't budge. Sage, the normally heavy sleeper, jumped awake from the sudden ruckus in his motel room and groggily looked around for his brother. Instead he clapped eyes with the scene that was unfolding in the small kitchen area, a small boy, in hysterical tears, was sat on the kitchen counter trying to pry Ethan's bear like hand off his knee whilst another small boy pulled and kicked at Ethan's leg.

Sage removed himself from the comfort and warmth of his bed, the cool air instantly embracing his body and causing a shiver to travel down his back. He looked briefly at Castiel, the baby angel still asleep but starting to stir due to the screaming and crying only a few meters away. Sage marched over to the kitchen, his march so soldier like, he had to shake his memories of fighting in the divine army. "What the fuck is going on in here?!"

All eyes landed on the youngest Wolf brother, Dean retreated to hide behind Ethan's leg, occasionally peeking out from behind his hip. Sam sniffled, more fear and panic hitting him, and more tears fell. Ethan remained calm, removing his hand from Sam's knee and taking the blood soaked rag with him. He tossed it in the trash can before retrieving a gauze bandage from the cupboard and gently wrapping it around the injured knee. Dean observed the tenderness and kindness in such an intimidating man but caught a glimpse of the annoyed looking twin and ducked behind Ethan again. Ethan looked up at Sam, wiping away the stray tears and sighed when more escaped. "I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean to hurt you," muttered Ethan, his eyes glowing amber dimly. Sam sniffled again and wiped his nose on his dirty sleeve before staring into the amber eyes of the man who had just helped him. "Thank you Ethan," he said with a small smile creeping on to his little lips.

Sage was leaning against the side of the kitchen counter, inspecting the boys closely. Their clothes were torn and dirty, they had lost their sneakers on the road between the motel and where ever they had come from. "Where are your parents?", he chimed in as the thought had suddenly dawned on him. Dean's head hung low and he shook it whilst Sam whimpered loudly. Ethan cast a glare at his younger brother but Sage paid no attention to him. Dean looked up, feeling the burning gaze of the youngest Wolf brother, and whimpered quietly, "we don't have any parents."

The older brother felt his heartstrings being tugged at as he knew that feeling, both he and Sage did. That feeling of being lost with no one to guide you, no one to love you. Ethan knelt down in front of Dean with a soft smile on his lips, "you can stay here with us. Me and Sage will protect you."

"Woah! Who said I agreed?!"

Ethan turned to look at his younger brother, a look of complete disbelief and anger plastered to his face as if Ethan had just insulted him. "Sage, they don't have anyone."

"So, we're not babysitters Ethan! This isn't our job nor is it our responsibility!"

The brothers were now standing inches apart from each other, both as angry as the other. Ethan growled deeply, "they're staying."

Sage growled back, his darker and deeper than his brother's, "they're going to the nearest orphanage."

Quiet crying pulled the brothers from their argument, they looked over to Dean and Sam to see the two small boys hugging each other whilst crying on each others' shoulders. The sight broke Sage slightly, his eyes dulled over with guilt and he instantly regretted his words. Ethan stepped away from Sage and knelt in front of the brothers again. Dean and Sam, without warning, buried themselves in the older brother's chest, sobbing quietly into the fabric of his shirt. "Shh little ones. It's okay," he cooed softly holding them close.

"Pwease don't send us away," pleaded Sam clutching fistfuls of Ethan's shirts. Ethan peered over his shoulder at Sage and glared at him but stopped when he saw the guilty look on his twin's face. Sage walked forward slowly and knelt beside his brother, his eyes glowing magenta but very dull. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I was way out of line," he muttered looking away. Dean looked over Ethan's bicep to meet the saddened gaze of the other twin and sniffled, wiping his tears away. "I-It's o-okay," the small boy stuttered and slipped out of the older brother's grip to hug Sage.

The younger brother glanced up at his older brother, unsure of how to respond as no child had ever hugged him before of their own free will, and Ethan chuckled. "Copy me," he whispered as his strong arms gently squeezed Sam to his chest. Sage nodded and, nervously, copied his older brother's actions.

"They can stay," Sage stated with a sigh of defeat.

"It won't get in the way Sage. I promise."

"I know brother. I know."


	3. Reunited

The brothers looked at the two small boys, now sat on the motel couch, and had decided to clean them up. "How are we gonna do this?"

Ethan shrugged, glancing at his younger brother, "we can fit both of them in the tub right?"

Sage nodded, the younger brother was still tired from their job earlier that day and wasn't in the mood for thinking, all he wanted was to get back to his bed and sleep. The older brother was also tired, so neither bothered to argue over it. He strode over to his duffle bag and tossed it on to the end of his bed, unzipping it and digging through his extensive collection of guns and other weapons. Ethan found his small selection of shirts and pulled out two of them, one of them was grey with a Batman symbol on it and the other was just a solid blue colour. He tossed the blue one to Sage, who caught it in one hand, and rose to his feet. "You can clean Sam up and I'll clean up Dean," he stated and Sage agreed without argument.

Dean looked at the twins, his eyes drifting to the shirt Ethan was holding and his eyes lit up, "Batman!" He pointed to the shirt causing Ethan to chuckle. "I'm guessing you like Batman?"

Dean nodded shyly. "Yeah," he replied in a quiet voice. Ethan smiled softly before lifting the small boy on to his hip, feeling Dean tense but slowly relax as he realised Ethan wasn't going to hurt him. Sage lifted Sam on to his hip, the boy smiling at the younger Wolf brother, and the brothers looked at each other with a smile. They made their way into the small sized bathroom and set the boys down, Dean instantly climbing up on top of the toilet lid before Sam could take the seat. Sam didn't complain, he just sat on the floor beside the toilet. Dean watched Ethan carefully as the older brother filled the bath, he swung his legs back and fourth gently whilst humming a tune and studying the bathroom and all the objects in it. Ethan twisted the fossit off and turned to face the two boys, beaming his pearly white smile.

Sage sat down on the floor and leaned against the tub, he looked at Sam and waved him over. Sam glanced up at Dean, searching for confirmation that it was okay to approach the rougher looking Wolf brother, and Dean nodded. The younger of the two boys cautiously crawled over to Sage, the Wolf gently lifting the boy into his lap and starting the process of removing the filth covered clothes. Ethan looked to Dean, "alright kid. C'mere," he said putting his hand out for Dean. The boy looked at the hand, Ethan's hand was huge compared to his little hand making it all the more intimidating. Ethan knew Dean was afraid of him, he was a strange man with glowing eyes that came at him with a knife and made his little brother wail and scream. He was trying his hardest to look friendly and instil some trust in the fearful little boy. "You're safe kid, I'm not gonna hurt you," said Ethan hoping his words would coax the boy forward but Dean stayed put.

"But you hurt Sammy," squeaked Dean, staring at his feet and avoiding all eye contact with the eldest brother. Sam looked to his brother and then glanced up at Sage, the younger Wolf brother removing the bandage from his injured knee. "The water will make it feel better," explained Sage and Sam nodded, "will it sting?"

"Only for a minute," Sage reassured, carefully lifting Sam into the bath full of warm water. Dean watched Sage with his brother, noticing how gentle the gruffer Wolf brother could be, and looked back to Ethan. "That was an accident Dean, I would never hurt him or you on purpose," Ethan explained with hopes his explanation would soothe Dean's confused little mind and allow him to trust him. The boy took a few steps forward, they were small steps but any steps were good in Ethan's mind. Ethan smiled. "Almost there kid, just a few more steps," encouraged Ethan as if he was talking to a child taking their first steps. Dean shuffled forward again so that he was now within Ethan's reach, allowing Ethan to gently pull Dean into his lap. He pulled off the tattered shirt Dean had been wearing, the fabric worn thin and coated in a thick layer of mud as if the boy had fallen and skidded across a patch of mud. His pants were a similar story, "we'll get you some new clothes tomorrow," stated Ethan causing Dean to tilt his head.

"Really? You're gonna buy us clothes," questioned Dean, confused by the kindness he was being shown by a complete stranger. Ethan chuckled softly and ruffled Dean's hair. "You're gonna need 'em kid." Dean smiled at Ethan, a small spark of trust igniting inside the young boy, and Ethan continued to strip him. He set Dean in the warm water, facing Sam, and rolled back his sleeves. Sage copied his older brother and grabbed the coffee mug he had left in the bathroom that morning, rinsing it out under the fossit and handing it to Ethan. The older brother dunked the mug into the water and poured the warm water over Dean's body, washing away the muck and grime that had soaked through the shirt. He handed the mug back to Sage, who began to wash Sam down, and grabbed a sponge. The water quickly turned a blackish-brown colour. Sam and Dean watched the brothers and, although they were silent whilst they worked, they saw their kindness shine through their hardened and rough exteriors.

Ethan squirt a small amount of soap on the sponge and began the process of removing the rest of the dirt from Dean's body, which instantly proved difficult as the boy was highly ticklish and would squirm and squeal every time the brush glided over a ticklish spot. The result of this was Ethan becoming very wet and his shirt being caked in suds. He never complained or grumbled, Ethan just chuckled and moved on to washing Dean's hair.

Sage did the same with Sam but didn't become as wet as his brother, Sam was still even when the sponge brushed over ticklish spots. The younger boy just played with the water or giggled at the silly faces Dean would pull. Sam even sat still whilst Sage massaged the shampoo into his hair but Dean wasn't as good as Sam. The young boy squirmed under Ethan's hands, trying to scoot away from the older brother but the man had a firm, but gentle, grip on the boy's shoulders holding him in his side of the bath. "I don't like it," whined Dean as Ethan massaged the shampoo through his short hair. "Give me two more minutes and it'll be done," replied Ethan taking the mug from Sage, who had now finished Sam's hair, and washed the excess shampoo off his hands. Dean huffed but listened to Ethan. Ethan filled the mug under the fossit, "alright close your eyes kid."

Dean nodded and squeezed his emeralds shut, awaiting the feeling of warm water being dumped on his head and then the same water running down his body. Ethan smiled softly, placing his hand on Dean's forehead and gently pushed his head back before pouring the water on his hair. Dean shivered as the water trickled down his back and Ethan continued.

Sage lifted Sam out of the tub and wrapped a towel around the boy's small body. He grabbed Ethan's navy blue shirt before sitting himself on the toilet lid and lifting Sage up into his lap. "Hey Eth. What are they gonna wear on the bottom half?"

Ethan glanced at Sage over his shoulder and shrugged. "Maybe we could put a diaper on them," suggested the older brother but both boys disapproved. "We're big boys. We can use the potty," protested Sam, folding his arms over his bare chest. Sage chuckled quietly to himself, "maybe I'll just put a pair of my boxers on him."

"But they'll never stay up."

"It's only to sleep in. Stop panicking feathers." Sage laughed quietly when he heard Ethan groan at the nickname Sage had given him in their youth. Sam giggled at the nickname causing Sage to crack a half smile whilst drying off the boy's medium length hair. He pulled the shirt over Sam's head and rose to his feet with the boy in his arms, making sure the oversized shirt was covering both Sam's privates and bare bum. Sage exited the bathroom and went straight to his duffle bag to retrieve a pair of his boxers, eventually finding a pair wedged under a shotgun and slipping them on Sam.

Meanwhile, Ethan finished washing Dean's hair. "Are you finished yet?"

He chuckled at the question as he removed the last of the shampoo. "Yeah kid, we're done," Ethan replied and Dean sighed in relief. He lifted Dean out of the tub and took the towel Sage had used on Sam and wrapped it around Dean. The boy nuzzled into the warmth of the towel whilst Ethan grabbed the Batman shirt and folded it over his arm. He started with drying off Dean's body, smiling when the boy giggled from the towel tickling him. Ethan dried Dean's dark blonde hair and pulled the Batman shirt over the small boy's head. Dean smiled, "I am Batman," he declared proudly but quickly became embarrassed. Ethan chuckled, "well I'll definitely sleep tonight, now that we have a superhero in the team." Dean smiled again and Ethan scooped him up in his arms.

The younger brother was sat at the dining table with his latest read in his hands. He hadn't even noticed the curious four year old watching him, intrigued by the book in Sage's hands and wanting to know what it was. "Can I see?" Sage looked down at his side to meet Sam's pleading gaze. With a sigh of defeat, he lifted the little boy into his lap and sat the book in front of them.

"What it about?"

Sage couldn't help but chuckle. "It's an old legend about two brothers that represent Heaven and Hell," explained Sage pointing to the picture of twin men. Both stood at equal height, one with a set of golden wings and a large golden sword whilst the other wore an all black suit, wielded a cane made of mahogany and wore a crown crafted from silver. Sam stared in awe, the men were stood back to back with the man with the wings looking brave and up to Heaven and the man in the black suit stood with a devilish smirk on his lips and a mischievous look in his eyes. "The legend says that they will eliminate the evil of the earth The Angel of Hope-" he pointed to the man with the wings and then at the man in the black suit, "and The Prince of Hell."

"Woah," exclaimed Sam in a whisper. Sage smiled and set his book down, "its only a legend of course."

Ethan emerged from the bathroom with Dean in his arms, the boy dressed in Ethan's batman shirt. The older brother found a pair of his own boxers and slid them on to Dean, picking him up again and looking to Sage and Sam. "I think we're set," declared Ethan and Sage nodded. Suddenly crying erupted in the room as it became apparent Cas had woken from his deep slumber. Ethan set Dean down on the edge of his bed and quickly made his way over to Castiel, scooping the distressed baby angel into his arms. He rocked him gently, "shh Cas, it's alright," Ethan cooed trying to calm the child but it was useless. Ethan sat on the edge of his bed, directly beside Dean, and continued rocking Cas. The small boy tapped Cas' shoulder, smiling sweetly as the teary eyed angel turned to look at him. "Hi Cassie," Dean said softly, waving to Cas. The crying immediately stopped crying and a huge smile plastered itself to Cas' face. "De! De!" The baby angel exclaimed excitedly, clapping his hands together and reaching out for Dean. Ethan sat Cas beside Dean and watched the baby angel tightly hug the little boy.

Although the twins were confused, it softened them to see the display of friendship between the two children. Cas looked up at Dean, tears still on the brims of his baby blues, and sniffled whilst wiping his nose on his sleeve. "I fought wou weft me," Castiel whimpered, still clinging tightly to Dean. Dean kept his arms wrapped around Cas, not wanting to let go of his friend for anything. "I had to go get Sammy, I'm sorry Cas."

"Where ws Am?"

Sam hopped off Sage lap, held the oversized boxers up, and ran over to his brother and Castiel. "I'm here too Cas," he declared climbing up beside his big brother and their angel friend, hugging him as well. "Am! Wou okay!" Cas squealed happily and hugged both his friends tightly. The Wolf brothers watched in amazement, they had never witnessed a bond so strong between three children and it actually warmed their hardened hearts to see it. Ethan got to his feet and began rummaging around the cupboards for a clean bottle, hoping Cas won't start fussing over going back to sleep now that his friends were here. Sage caught on to Ethan's idea and walked over to the boys. "How about we get some rest, we got a lot to do tomorrow," he suggested and, surprisingly, was met with three, tired nods. Ethan returned with a bottle of warm milk and cradled Cas in his arms, handing the baby angel the bottle and watched as Cas suckled happily on it. He lay him back down in the makeshift crib and tucked him in with his stuffed wolf at his side.

Sage picked up Sam and Dean, he decided to let them sleep in his bed and he would crash on the couch. He carefully laid the two boys in the large, double bed and pulled the blankets over them. Ethan watched the warmer side of his younger brother show itself but it was short lived, it quickly extinguished itself once he had laid down on the couch with his jacket sprawled over his shoulder. He didn't try to offer him his bed, knowing Sage's stubborn nature, but he did lay a blanket over his baby brother. "Thanks Eth," Sage muttered as sleep took over his body.

"Don't mention it little brother," he replied. Ethan lay down in his own bed, took one more glance around the room before turning off his lamp and letting exhaustion do the rest...


	4. On The Road

The brothers were up early the next morning, Sage packed the duffle bags and bags full of baby supplies into the truck whilst Ethan woke and prepared the boys for the long drive ahead. The older brother changed the baby angel into a fresh diaper and clean clothes before buckling him into his car seat. He set Sam in the middle seat and Dean in the window seat, buckling both boys in and peering over the truck roof at his younger brother.

Sage shut the truck and Ethan tossed him the keys over the truck roof, Sage caught them on his index finger and smirked at his older brother. Ethan rolled his eyes at his brother's cockiness and sat himself in the passenger seat. Sage sat himself in the driver's seat, turned the keys in the ignition and listened to the purr of his engine. He looked to his brother, "where to first?"

"A clothes store," replied Ethan looking back at Dean and Sam, the two boys still dressed in the brothers' oversized shirts and boxers, "they're gonna need clothes." Sage nodded, pulling out of the motel parking lot and on to the quiet back road. "You take them to get some clothes and I'll take Cas with me to get another duffle bag for all the kids' stuff." The brothers nodded at each other to cement their shopping plan.

Sage pulled into a parking space close to the front of the store, he shut of the engine and took his keys out of the ignition, safely tucking them into his jacket pocket. Ethan got out and unbuckled Sam and Dean, taking one boy on each arm to ensure the oversized underwear stayed put. The younger brother removed Castiel from his car seat, resting the baby angel on his hip before turning to face his older brother. They went their separate ways after agreeing on a time to meet back at the truck, Ethan made his way inside the kids clothing store and instantly felt the judgemental and confused stares of the many other parents that were in the store. He muttered cusses under his breath and let out a groan, disappearing into the boy's section for four to eight year olds and set the boys on down. "Okay. Pick out a few shirts and pants, then we can look at the sneakers," instructed Ethan in his natural, calm tone.

"What if our undies fall down and someone sees?"

Ethan looked to Dean, his tiny hands gripping the waistband of Ethan's boxers tightly in an attempt to keep them up, and sighed. The older brother held back the urge to give the five year old a lesson on the Bible and its thoughts on nakedness, he instead knelt down in front of the small boy and smiled softly. "How about you point at the stuff you want and I pick it up? That way you don't have to let go of your underwear," suggested Ethan and both boys nodded, smiling at him. Dean picked up a lot of plaid and solid coloured shirts and Sam wasn't much different, however the younger of the two boys had picked out a top with a cartoon moose on it. "Do you like moose Sam?"

Sam nodded shyly as Ethan folded the shirt over his arm, "I like moose too." The boy's head perked up with a smile tugging at his lips, Dean giggled and pointed to a Batman shirt that was hanging next to the moose shirt. "Can I get that one Ethan?"

"Sure," Ethan replied picking up the shirt and folding it over Sam's. After selecting their pants and shirts, Ethan walked the boys to the shoe section and let the two search for a pair of shoes they wanted. Dean quickly pointed out a pair of black and white, Velcro strapped sneakers and smiled up to Ethan. The older Wolf picked them off the shelf and motioned for Dean to sit down on the leather seat close to where the shoes were. He put the shoes on Dean's bare feet, "do they fit? Are they comfortable?"

Dean nodded with a smile. Ethan carefully took off the shoes and added them to his arms overflowing with clothes and packets of underwear. He then glanced at Sam, the small boy still looking at the shoes and struggling to pick a pair. Ethan chuckled, walked back over to him and lifted Sam on to his hip, pointing to a pair of red and blue sneakers. "What about those?"

Sam nodded excitedly, "those are Spiderman's colours," he stated with the same excitement. Ethan chuckled again, his amber eyes sparkling in the artificial light, and nodded. Dean scoffed playfully, "Batman is way cooler than Spiderman."

Ethan laughed quietly at the childish argument and set Sam back on his feet, "okay. Just a few more things to get."

Ethan set the clothes, underwear and sneakers on the conveyer belt and then turned to take the few items Dean and Sam had insisted on holding to ease Ethan's load. The cashier gave the two children a confused look before looking up to meet the amber gaze of the eldest Wolf brother. "You take them out like that?" Ethan growled deeply, baring his teeth as his lips curled back.

"How about you mind your own business?" Ethan bit back.

The cashier looked back at the boys. "Does he do bad things to you? Do you want me to call the police officer?" Dean's head whipped up to Ethan, his shimmering emerald orbs pleading with him at the mention of the police. Ethan felt his rage boil as if the sight of Dean's fearful face had just ignited his spark and caused his normally patient demeanour to disappear in an instant. He had, had enough of the cashier and swiftly grabbed the man by his collar, listening to the choir of gasps sound behind him as he yanked the man closer to him. Their faces were now inches apart and the cashier's eyes glimmered with panic and fear at the intensity of the amber colour in the older brother's eyes and the strength of his grip on the collar of his work uniform.

"You better start scanning those items. Those kids are my business, not yours. So, if you'd like to continue breathing, I suggest you start doing your job," Ethan growled quietly into the man's ear, his hot breath drifting across the ear and sending a shiver down the cashier's spine. Ethan felt the cashier's body tense at his words making a smirk curl on to his lips which only widened as the man struggled to wiggle free of his grasp. He felt a small tug at the hem of his jacket and looked down to see Sam, visibly terrified by Ethan's anger and wanting him to stop. Ethan, within an instant, pushed the cashier away and knelt down to Sam's height. "Sorry kid. I was just angry," he explained as softly as he could and smiled when Sam nodded. Ethan had never seen a cashier scan items so fast in all his existence, he chuckled at his handy work as the cashier practically pushed the bags into his hands and scrambled to give him his change. The older brother smirked at the cashier, now quickly serving the next customer, before picking Dean and Sam up into his arms and slipping into the changing rooms.

He sat them on the little wooden bench and drew the curtain closed. He then rummaged through the plastic bags, snatching a shirt, pants and underwear for Dean and helped the boy to stand up. Ethan carefully, but briskly, stripped Dean and began dressing him in his new clothes. Dean giggled, looking up at Ethan with his gleaming emerald orbs, and smiled widely whilst Ethan slid a pair of navy blue boxers and light blue jeans on to Dean's bottom half, fastening the button for the boy.

"That was so funny. He was really scared of you Ethan," exclaimed the five year old as Ethan tugged the Batman shirt over his head. The older brother chuckled, his gaze meeting with the smiling eyes of the small boy in his charge, and a smirk forming on his lips. "He thought you huwt us," squeaked Sam who kept his eyes trained on the floor as he spoke. Ethan tilted Sam's head up by his chin and smiled softly at the upset and scared child. "I know but people like that only see what they want to see. They don't try to find the whole story," replied Ethan. Sam formed a half smile and nodded. Once Ethan had changed both boys into their new clothes and stuffed his and his brother's clothes in amongst the rest of the supplies, he strapped on the boys' sneakers and took their tiny hands in his larger ones. His eye caught that of the cashier before he casually strolled out with Dean and Sam giggling at his sides.

Sage perused the many different duffle bags on the shelf whilst keeping a firm grip on the toddler in his arms. Castiel had become bored with watching the youngest Wolf brother decide on a bag and began trying to amuse himself with anything within his reach. The baby angel took hold of a golf club that was lying beside the duffle bags and thrashed it around without care or concern. Sage noticed the swinging metal stick and grabbed the head of the club as it came close to smack him in the skull.

"Kid, stop. You're gonna hurt me or yourself," Sage snapped in a whisper. Cas whimpered and set the club down, "sowwy Age."

The younger brother sighed but then had an idea that might entertain the baby angel and aid him in his decision making process. He looked at Cas with a smile, "hey kid. Why don't you help me pick a duffle for your stuff?"

Cas' face brightened and he nodded eagerly. Sage cracked a small smile at the boy's excitement, finding it become more and more difficult to suppress the urge to protect the vulnerable baby angel in his arms, and moved Castiel on to his shoulders. The boy squealed and giggled. Sage was exceptionally tall, he and Ethan were both 6'4, which made sitting on his shoulders a very enjoyable experience for the baby angel. "I twall Age," exclaimed Cas peering over Sage's head to look down at the younger brother. "Yeah kid, that you are. Now let's pick a bag and get back to the truck," he replied with the hint of a smile. The toddler stared up at the selection of bags in awe, his sparkling blue orbs wide with wonder and curiosity, and began looking back and forth along the rows. His eyes focused on a bright red bag but it wasn't the colour that caught Cas' attention, it was the large sticker on the side that was in the shape of a wolf paw with an angel wing protruding from the right of the paw and a demon wing protruding from the left of the paw.

He squealed and bounced up and down on Sage's shoulders. "Age! 'At one! 'At one!"

Sage looked up at the duffle bag and chuckled, "you've got good taste kid. Didn't think he gave that to angels." Cas giggled at Sage's comment, not knowing what any of it meant, and clapped his hands happily. The younger brother pulled the bag off the shelf and moved Cas back on to his hip, allowing him to sling the duffle bag over his shoulder. He walked over to the cashier, a tall blonde, middle-aged woman, who instantly began crooning at Castiel. "He's beautiful," she cooed stroking Cas' cheek gently. Whilst Cas giggled, Sage felt his patience slowly snapping and felt his eyes begin to glow.

"Yeah," he replied bluntly, attempting to keep his eyes under control but finding it difficult. Sage removed a pair of sunglasses from his shirt pocket and slipped them on, Cas giggling at him. "Age? Why wou wear gwasses?"

Sage shook his head, "don't worry about it kid," he replied. Eventually the cashier scanned the tag of the duffle bag and read out the total to Sage. With a grumble, Sage took out his wallet and handed the woman two twenty dollar bills. "Oh no. I'll cut it down to half because of that cutie in your arms," she whispered tickling under Cas' chin causing the little boy to squeal happily. The younger Wolf brother chuckled and looked at Cas, "maybe I should take you shopping with me more often."

Castiel smiled and giggled at the younger brother, Sage smiled back before taking his change and the duffle bag. Once outside, Cas whined and began thrashing around in Sage's arms causing Sage to growl quietly and tighten his grip on the small boy. "Jesus kid. Quit squirmin'," growled Sage but Castiel continued to whine and squirm in his grip. "Hungy! Hungy!"

"You're hungry?"

"Hungy!"

Sage groaned and bounced Cas, as he had seen Ethan do, whilst trying to keep the duffle bag on his shoulder. "Alright kid, we'll meet up with Ethan and the boys and then we can go get food," Sage said. Cas stopped thrashing around, looking up at Sage with sparkling ocean blue eyes, and nodded.

The brothers met back at the truck. By this time, Sage was sitting in the driver's seat listening to 'Demons' and drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Cas tried to copy Sage by hitting his hands off his thighs, the small angel giggling happily. Ethan buckled Sam and Dean back in the truck, Sam on the middle seat and Dean on the window seat, and sat himself in the passenger seat. The brothers glanced at each other with the same look.

"Food?"

"Food."


	5. Mississippi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, kinda can't believe how well this fic is doing! Anyways I was wondering if anyone reading could drop me a comment and give me their ideas on what the Wolf Brothers are like. Like what you guys like about their characters, what you think their personalities are like etc... It would really help me with their development and such. Thank you! :)

Ethan ran his finger across the map he had spread across the dashboard, following the road he had calculated to be the fastest route into Mississippi. "Do you see a diner on that map?"

He looked at his younger brother with a smirk, "I guess we better get some food huh?"

"Kids gotta eat Eth and so do I. I'm fuckin' starved," Sage replied turning around the roundabout. Ethan chuckled, he turned in his seat to face the boys and smiled at them. Dean and Sam were engaged in an intense game of rock, paper, scissors whilst Castiel watched them with great fascination. The scene brought a small smile to Ethan's lips, it brought back many memories of himself and Sage in their childhood when they would watch their older brothers play games they had no concept of. A grunt from Sage snapped Ethan from his reminiscing and he turned back round to look at his map, "yes Sage?"

"Diner. Food. Now," the younger brother damned with the tone of a petty child only causing his twin to chuckle under his breath. "Don't be such a child," Ethan scolded playfully, glancing at his map and circling a spot, "there's a diner just off the next highway to your left."

"Thank you Feathers. My stomach thanks you too."

Ethan rolled his eyes, "if you call me Feathers one more time, I will personally escort you to Hell."

Sage smirked at his older brother, it was wicked smirk but Sage's level of charm masked the wickedness, "I got all year access down there. No need for you to get your hands dirty."

"Firefly."

The younger brother glared at his twin but his lips fashioned into a mischievous grin. "You did not just pull that card from your deck?"

"You wanna call me Feathers? I call you Firefly."

"Feathers."

"Firefly."

Sage helped Sam and Dean into a booth, Sam claiming the window seat and leaving Dean with the middle of the leather seat. Sage sat to the outside as Ethan placed Castiel on the inside and sat opposite his younger brother. The boys began crafting objects from the napkins on the table except for the baby angel, Cas had decided, to again, watch Sam and Dean with his stuffed wolf casually sprawled on the table in front of him. Ethan watched them, the older brother knew many things but was learning much more being around and caring for the three small children in his care and, although he never said it, he could tell Sage was learning just as much as he was. Another of Sage's grunts drew Ethan from his thoughts and back to reality, the younger brother's eyebrows furrowed in great concentration as he studied many sheets of paper he had brought in from the truck.

"This next job is simple. It's in Mississippi, some supernatural spell dealer and--"

"Is this really the time and/or place to be discussing this?"

The older twin gazed into his brother's glassy magenta orbs, seeing a look of confusion and disbelief plastered in the rich colour of his eyes, and was met with a scoff. "What? We have to get a plan in place, I don't need a repeat of Kentucky," remarked Sage followed by a teenage-like sigh. "We're not discussing it here. Those kids don't need to hear that," Ethan stated and, not wanting to cause a scene, Sage reluctantly leaned back into his seat and remained quiet. He didn't stay quiet for very long. The waitress glided over to the table with her notepad and pen in hand, she was a medium height blonde with ocean blue orbs and immediately took Sage's interest. He straightened himself up, smoothing out his plaid shirt and arranging his hair back into the quiff of raven black hair. "What can I get y'all?"

"Hey there. Can I get a burger and a side of fries with a Coke?"

She jotted down Sage's order and smiled at the younger brother. Ethan rolled his eyes at them, glancing at the menu and then back up at the waitress. "I'll have the chicken wings with a water thanks," he said earning him the same quirky smile his brother had received. "And for the cuties?"

They looked to the boys. Sam and Dean had become quiet around the presence of the waitress, confusing the brothers but pushed Ethan back into a big brother frame of mind. He leaned over to Sam and Dean and smiled softly at them. "What do you want boys?"

Dean looked up at Ethan, his little emeralds plastered with that same glimmer of fear as the previous night, and shook his head. "Just Sammy. I don't need anything," Dean said quietly but Ethan quickly shook his head, "no Dean. You gotta eat too."

Sam nudged Dean and nodded, "it's okay Dean. He's not here anymore." The five year old slowly nodded, turning back to Ethan and glancing at the menu. However it was Sam that spoke instead of Dean, the four year old shuffling nervously in his seat as he looked up at the oldest Wolf brother. "Can we have waffles pwease?"

Ethan smiled softly whilst Sage chuckled under his breath. The older brother nodded, "yes Sam. You guys can have waffles," he replied with a warm smile on his lips. The two small boys smiled and went back to crafting shapes with the napkins. "Me too. Me want waffles too," exclaimed Cas putting both his hands in the air with excitement causing the twins to chuckle quietly. Ethan turned back to the waitress, a smile plastered to her face as she spoke to Sage, and he quickly noticed a twinkle of devilish charm in his little brother's eyes. He coughed and the waitress looked at him, "sorry. What do those little cuties want?"

"Can they get waffles with a juice box please?"

She nodded and scribbled down the boys' order before scribbling down something else and handing a shred of the paper to Sage. She winked at the younger twin before strutting back to the kitchen with her hips swaying, giving Sage something to stare at. Ethan groaned and delivered a swift kick to his brother's shin, "do you have to do this every time we're in public?"

"Do what?" Sage asked with a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "Hit on every girl your eyes seem to land on," Ethan answered with a hint of annoyance hiding behind his gruff and raspy voice. Sage just chuckled, kicking back in his seat and taking in a deep breath, "it's my devilish charm. Women can't resist me."

The older brother simply groaned again and decided to watch the boys do what ever they were doing. Sam was precisely folding a napkin in half before passing them to Dean who would do a little more folding and show Cas the finished product of a bird or another kind of animal. Ethan watched with the same fascination as the baby angel except his amazement was very much silent whereas Cas would let out a squeal of excitement followed by a giggle. Cas lifted up his wolf and waved it in Dean's face, "make puppy! Make puppy!"

Dean giggled, "I don't know if we can make wolves Cassie," he replied and Cas sighed sadly. "Aw... I wike puppy," Cas muttered and the toddler's sadness made Dean almost panic. Ethan looked to Sam and Dean, extending his hand and smiling with the same curiosity. "Can I try?" He asked with such a child-like quality as if he was in school and had learned a new skill from his teacher. Sam nodded happily and handed Ethan a napkin, which had now brought Sage to watch the whole spectacle and watch his older brother attempt napkin origami. Ethan slowly folded the napkin in many different places, completely oblivious to the small audience at his booth, and proceed to create the wolf Castiel had wanted to see. He held it up with a proud smile on his face, "that's easier than it looks."

He now noticed his brother and the three boys, watching him with the curiosity he had, had five minutes ago, and chuckled. The boys clapped but Sage scoffed, rolling his eyes and going back to thinking over their next job. Cas squealed whilst clapping excitedly, "puppy! Puppy!"

Ethan chuckled and handed it to Cas. "Yeah kid," he said almost in a whisper but still loud enough for the boys and Sage to hear. "Can we make a whole pack? You can show me, Sam and Sage how to do it," suggested Dean excitedly and Sam nodded his agreement eagerly. Ethan looked to Sage, his younger brother lost in his deep thought but still able to interpret everything going on around him, and tapped his leg with his foot under the table. "Wanna help us make a pack of napkin wolves?"

The boys all looked to Sage with wide, pleading eyes and large smiles plastered to their faces. The younger twin groaned but sat up straight in his seat, shoving all his important thoughts to the back of his mind, and looked up at his older brother. "Hand me a napkin."

By the time they had crafted a wolf to represent each person sitting in the booth, their food and drinks had arrived making the small boys smile happily. Equally, Sage's lips had stretched into a wide smile at the sight of his burger (and the waitress) and large glass of soda. Ethan thanked the waitress before poking the straw into Cas' juice box and setting it by the boy's large plate of syrup drenched waffles. "Fank wou Efan. Fank wou Age," Cas said ripping a chunk of his waffle off and stuffing it into his little mouth. Sage looked confused but nodded and Ethan did the same. "Yeah thank you very much," Dean added cutting Sam's waffles for him. Sage glanced at Dean and set his burger down, "kid. You eat up, I'll cut up Sam's stuff."

Dean, very slowly, handed Sage Sam's knife and fork before turning to his own meal and cutting into his waffles and taking his first bite, smiling. Ethan watched Sage cut Sam's food into manageable cubes and turn back to his own meal, taking a huge bite out of his burger. He smiled at his younger brother whilst tearing a strip of chicken meat from the wing bone, Sage trying to hold back a laugh and swallow the chunk of burger before it could spray all over the table. Ethan was confused until one of his and Sage's inside jokes sprung to the front of his mind and he held back his own laugh.

"You just remember it too?"

Ethan nodded, quickly swallowing the chicken with a swig of his water. "Such a weird joke," he remarked moving to the next wing. "It was a weird job," Sage noted with his mouth full of his second, large bite. Dean, Sam and Cas watched the brothers, the way they interacted with one and another and something about it was weird to Dean. He could tell the brothers had a good sense of family values as they cared a lot about each other but what got the little boy thinking was how long the brothers had been away from their actual family. "Ethan? Sage? Do you have a mommy and a daddy?"

The twins' heads swivelled to looked at Dean, who had syrup dripping down his chin and another piece of waffle ready to go, and both went quiet. Sage sunk into an angry silence whilst Ethan was just an uncomfortable silence. Yet it was Ethan who braved answering Dean, mainly because he was afraid Sage's bottled away feelings would explode. "We have a dad but we haven't spoke to him in a very long time," replied Ethan with a slightly saddened tone. Dean looked taken aback by Ethan's answer but he just nodded. Ethan was surprised by Dean because unlike other kids his age who would pester him with questions, Dean just nodded and went back to eating his waffles without another word on the subject. The older brother was thankful for this as he could see the storm brewing inside his twin at the mention of their father. "Sage?"

Sage rose from his seat and stepped out of the booth. "I gotta take a leak," he stated bluntly before walking off to the bathroom.

He stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, his magenta orbs glowed violently as his thoughts all circled that one conversation. He knew Dean had just been curious and had just asked a question but the topic was a sensitive one for him.

_"Why can you never listen to me?! Why do you only listen to Ethan?!"_

_"That is not true my son."_

He growled deeply, the sound of his father's monotone, ever-calm voice causing him to clench his hand into a fist. His teeth gritted and he looked back at his reflection, only seeing his teenage self with all it's angst and pent up rage.

_"You've always preferred the first four to me! Even the son who betrayed you! He gets more recognition than me!"_

_"That is not true my son."_

_"Call me by my name! You gave it to me for a reason!"_

All his anger exploded in a deep growl and his fist collided with the cold glass of the mirror and the glass shattered, yet none touched his hand. Sage's anger boiled fiercely, his boot colliding with one of the stall door and his fist connecting with the wall, pieces of bricks and plastic spraying over the bathroom floor. The glow of his eyes intensified with every punch he delivered to the wall or stall door, by the time he was finished his fists were coated in brick dust and blood. Sage wrapped his knuckles in toilet paper, the red liquid soaking through with every layer he added until finally it stopped. He glanced out into the main restaurant, Ethan and the boys were gathering together the napkin wolves they had created and his older brother stored them safely in a box. That sight was enough to melt some of his anger away, his military trained brother interacting with three small children with the tenderness of a father and slowly reminding him of the mission they now had.

He cleaned up his knuckles and shirt, which was coated in brick dust and his own blood, and made his way back to the booth. Sage exited the bathroom and brushed shoulders with, what looked like, a biker. The two exchanged a glance with Sage muttering his apologies but instantly feeling his gut twist with a feeling of dread. The younger twin quickly shook off the sudden feeling and made his way to the booth, sitting himself back down and smiling at his brother. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah. Just some bad memories," Sage replied quietly whilst running his thumb over his knuckles. Ethan nodded slowly, watching his brother's every move with great caution before pulling out his wallet to pay for the meal. As usual, the brothers split the bill before making their way back to their truck and buckling the boys up for the drive. "Where are we going?"

"Mississippi. We're going to Mississippi kid."


	6. Familiar Faces

It had been a relatively quiet drive since they left the diner. The three boys had kept each other entertained whilst the twins fought over which way to turn or who's music was to be played on the radio and, of course, Sage had won the argument as "Broken Crown" blared from the trucks radio. Ethan decided to start the search for a motel to crash for that night but was having trouble pin pointing one on the map. Sage picked up on his brother's problem and backhanded Ethan's shoulder, immediately pointing to the black laptop case at Ethan's feet. "Quit with the stupid paper map and pull up Google maps," he stated with his eyes still trained on the road in front of them.

Ethan picked up his little brother's laptop and pulled up Google Maps, groaning. "We just hit Memphis, so it's another 209 miles," Ethan explained slumping back into his seat with a loud yawn. "How many hours is that?"

"2 hours and 58 minutes approximately."

Sage nodded, looking around for a sign pointing him in the direction a motel. He looked at the three, exhausted boys in the backseat and grumbled quietly under his breath, "we better find a motel between here and Jackson. These kids need a bed." Ethan nodded his agreement, quickly typing something into the search engine and slamming down on the enter key. "Hey. Careful with my stuff," the younger brother warned taking a sip of his black coffee. The older twin ignored his whiney younger brother as he scrolled through countless motels that were dotted along the freeway they were travelling on, eventually pointing to the left. "Take this turn off and then go right," he explained with his tired amber orbs still glued to the screen. Sage followed Ethan's instructions and sighed in relief when the neon sign of a motel came into view, "finally."

He pulled into a parking space before shutting off the engine and tossing his keys into his jacket pocket. "I'll go get us a room," Sage said and, without waiting for Ethan's response, removed himself from the driver's seat. The motel was fairly busy but not busy enough that they would be denied a room. It was a decent standard of motel too, the parking lot was littered with some trash and cigarette buds but nothing that would ruin one night's sleep. He gently tapped the plexiglass and he was met by the gaze of a middle-aged woman with thick rimmed glasses. "Hello sir, how may I help you?"

"Can I get a room for the night please? Two beds also please," Sage replied with a fake, friendly smile on his lips. The woman stared at him in awe, his fake smile exuding a level of charm, and she felt a small spark of desire ignite. "I'm really suppose to charge for a room but I can make an exception for a man like yourself," she whispered with a hint of seduction. The younger twin smirked and his eyes sparkled with a mischievous twinkle, he loved when women fell victim to his devilish charm as it just seemed to radiate from him. "You're too kind ma'am," he replied, still smirking, and whisked the keys to their room out of her hand.

Ethan was leaning against the hood of the truck, his gaze directed to the stars whilst he muttered to himself as if he was having a conversation with someone. Sage slowly approached him, leaning on the spot next to his older brother and gazing up, only to quickly bring his thoughts and eyes back to earth. "What are you doing?"

"Praying?"

"Why? He never answers."

"I still haven't done it in a while."

"He still doesn't answer."

Ethan groaned, the brothers had, had this argument many times on their travels and most of the time it ended in an awkward silence but there was the rare time when one of them would say something that would shut the other up, secretly meaning they had won. "It's worth a shot."

Sage breathed a laugh, "you don't still believe in him, do you?"

"Do you believe in him?"

"I believe in his existence. I don't believe in him."

It was one of the rare times. Ethan went silent at his little brother's answer allowing Sage to turn cocky and gloat silently to himself about his secret victory. "Let me know if he talks back," Sage said walking to the truck's back doors and opening Dean's side. The little boy was half asleep and the opening of the door had jolted him awake, "Sage? Are we there?"

"We're at a motel kid. We're gonna rest up for tonight and then drive to Jackson tomorrow," the younger twin explained, taking Dean's seat belt off and lifting him out of the car. He then moved on to Sam whilst Ethan lifted Cas from his car seat and on to his hip. Sam rubbed his eyes as Sage lifted him out of the truck and situated him on to his hip. The younger brother scooped up Dean on to his other hip and they made their way to their room. Sage set Dean and Sam on one of double beds and tossed the room keys on the bedside table, "I'll get the bags."

Ethan nodded whilst bouncing Cas gently, humming one of the many hymns he knew.

Both brothers sipped on their beers, Sage's eyes glued to his laptop screen whilst Ethan kept his eyes on the boys sleeping soundly in one of the motel beds. They had allowed Cas to sleep in the bed with Dean and Sam as long as the toddler was sandwiched between the two brothers and unsurprisingly, the baby angel was curled up to Dean with one hand on the small boy's shirt and the other gripping his wolf plushie tightly. "I'll take the couch," whispered Ethan but Sage shook his head. "So I can listen to you complain about a back ache tomorrow? No thank you. I'll take the couch," retorted the younger brother with sleep lacing his voice. Ethan didn't bother to argue back, he knew both of them were tired and irritable and knew any form of argument would end in fists being thrown.

"Okay. Fine, the couch is yours," agreed Ethan with a degree of reluctancy. Sage remained quiet, his eyes glued to his laptop screen and scanning the details of their next kill when a certain thought entered his mind. "You never told me if he answered you or not," he stated not looking up at his older brother but feeling Ethan's stare. The older brother was silent, knowing his answer would please Sage's ego and further bury his brother's faith. "I don't pray for an answer Sage."

Sage looked up from his screen, peering over the top of his laptop to meet the calming gaze of his brother's amber orbs. "Then why do you do it?"

"Just so he knows I am still prepared to talk to him and not ignore him like you've perfected," explained Ethan with a forced calmness. Sage scoffed before taking a long sip of his beer and kicking his feet up on the table, letting relaxation spread over his exhausted body, "I have reasons for ignoring him and they're perfectly valid reasons."

"Valid in your mind," Ethan uttered under his breath but Sage was still able to hear his brother's comment. He groaned, only rolling his eyes in response and stretching out. "You know you could have stayed home? You didn't have to follow me," remarked the younger brother with a wicked smirk creeping on to his lips. Ethan looked at his cocky younger brother, who believed he had cornered his older brother, and shook his head. "I had to watch your ass and that's very difficult to do when we are in two different places."

Sage rose to his feet with a deep growl escaping his lips, "that never was the case before all this."

"Before this was different. Before this you had argued with Dad to the point were he threw you out."

"I walked out! I would never give him the satisfaction of throwing me out!"

Ethan put a finger to his own lips and pointed to the three sleeping boys, "be quiet. They're asleep."

Sage scoffed again, throwing his beer bottle in the trashcan and smirking when it smashed loudly. Ethan growled before glancing over his shoulder at the boys and sighing in relief when none of the stirred or woke up. He looked back to Sage with a scowl and anger in his eyes, "why are you such an asshole sometimes? You're just gonna fuck everything up again."

There was silence between the two as Sage absorbed what his brother said and Ethan realised what he had said. Sage grunted, holding back the anger and sadness that stirred inside his head, and snatched his jacket from the back of the chair he had been sat in. "Sage. I--"

"Save it Ethan. Even my own damn twin thinks I'm a fuck up."

Sage didn't wait for his brother's stuttered response as he swiftly grabbed his truck keys and left the motel room, slamming the door behind him. Ethan shuddered as the slamming of the door made the walls tremble and sank into his seat, burying his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry little brother."

The younger Wolf brother threw back his twelfth shot of the night followed by his third glass of vodka, yet he was no closer to being drunk than when he had first entered the bar. He snapped his fingers and the bartender refilled his shot glass with whiskey but gave Sage a sympathetic look. "Having troubles with the wife?"

He shook his head, "nah. Just my big brother being a jerk."

Sage had hooked the bartender's attention as the elderly man leaned on the counter and motioned for Sage to continue his rant. "I don't want to trouble you with my stupid problems sir. That wouldn't be fair of me," Sage replied downing the thirteenth shot. "That's another function of a bartender son. Guys here vent to me all the time, so let loose," he reassured with a soft and friendly smile that matched the glimmer in his hazel coloured eyes. Something about the old man's demeanour had captured Sage's attention and he found himself opening up to a complete stranger.

"Well, I guess it all really starts with me getting kicked out of the house. My brother came with me, mainly to watch my ass but also because well, we do everything. Always have. So, we hit the road and haven't looked back but two or so days ago we found a couple of kids. Eth wanted to keep them and I obviously agreed although I was reluctant and so far its been fine, I'm warming up to the kids but ever since they showed up, my brother had become more inclined to discuss our past or I find myself thinking about my past more. I guess tonight was just my breaking point--"

Sage paused and let out a sigh, glancing up into the friendly hazel eyes of the bartender and preparing himself to continue.

"We haven't heard from my dad in a long time and we haven't spoken to him either but tonight Ethan was trying and that's where our argument stemmed from. Then he called my a fuck up and I stormed out which looking back on was a real bitch move," he finished and was met with another sympathetic gaze and a firm hand being planted on his shoulder. "This world needs men like you and your brother. Push the arguing to the side for a minute and look at what you're doing. Those kids could be in a worse situation but no, they're in your care. That's amazing," the bartender said with a sense of enthusiasm that Sage had been searching since they started their babysitting mission.

"Thanks but I don't know how I'm gonna fix this. I know Ethan didn't mean to say that, it was just heat of the moment shit you know?"

The bartender nodded slowly, "I hear apologies always work really well," he said with a laugh. Sage smiled slightly and nodded, "yeah. That might be a starting point."

The bar door swung open and, to Sage's surprise, the biker from the diner entered the bar with two more bikers. They sat opposite Sage but refused to make eye contact with anyone in the bar. It didn't take Sage very long to work out who they were and found his eyes drawn to the symbol of the arm of the biker's leather jacket. It was a brown crate enclosed in a gold circle with an ancient writing circling the circle, Sage recognised the writing simply because he spoke it and growled under his breath. "Supernatural traffickers and they specialise in angels," he mumbled to himself reading the Enochian writing surrounding the gold circle. The bartender sensed Sage's dislike of the bikers and leaned close to the younger brother's ear, "I can ask them to leave if you like?"

"No. I wanna see who they're meeting here," Sage replied and the bartender nodded, handing him glass of whiskey. Sage sipped it slowly as he watched the bikers, he knew bars were popular places for hand-offs in the Supernatural black market but never actually thought he'd be witness to one in a mortal bar. Eventually a man dressed in a lumberjack styled outfit approached the biker trio with great caution, they spoke in whispers before the four men left the bar. Sage's curiosity peaked, he lay down a twenty dollar bill by his glass and quietly followed the men outside, pulling his jacket on as he walked.

Outside the men were stood by a rusted pick-up truck, still mumbling and whispering amongst themselves but this time Sage could hear quiet sobbing and it was sobbing he recognised. He slowly approached the men but froze when he saw what they were holding. The leader of the biker gang stood with Castiel in his arms, the baby angel wrapped in Ethan's tattered leather jacket and screaming for the brothers. Another biker was holding another child, again an angel but an angel Sage recognised and made his anger bubble more than it was already. Both of the little angels screamed, kicked and cried for help and Sage soon realised he had to move or he would lose both angels. "Hey!"

The men turned to face Sage, the younger brother's eyes burning bright magenta as he marched over to the men. "Back off buddy. This is just a simply transaction," one man spat at him.

"Age! Age!" Cas made grabby hands for the only man he recognised, fat tears rolling down his cheeks and falling on to the jacket tied tightly around him. "Hang on Cas. I'll get you out of this," replied Sage turning his attention back to the four men that stood before him. Without hesitation, Sage un-holstered his handgun and instantly shot the buyer of the two angels. The bikers quickly set down the crying angels and pulled out their own weapons, aiming them at Sage's heart. The younger brother, with unhuman speed, shot one of the men and twisted his blade deeply into the other man's chest. The leader stumbled away from the younger brother but Sage swiftly grabbed him by the throat, pinning him to the side of the pick-up. "The man and two boys that were with that kid, are they hurt?"

The man remained quiet, refusing to look Sage directly in the eye. Sage pulled the man back and slammed him hard into the side of pick-up, his eyes glowing intensely. "Are they hurt?!"

"The kids are fine. Can't say the same for the guy," the man breathed out and Sage felt his temper flare. With one flick of his wrist, he felt the man's neck snap in his hands but that didn't satisfy his anger as he continued to twist the bikers head until bone began to protrude through the flesh and blood leaked on to the his fingers. It was Cas' quiet sobs that drew Sage from his rage and he quickly tossed the body aside, kneeling in front of the baby angel and taking him into his arms. "Shh Cas. The bad guys are gone," cooed Sage in a whisper rubbing soothing circles in the baby angel's small back.

"They huwt Efan," Cas cried burying his face into Sage's shoulder. Sage felt his heart break, not only because his brother was potentially injured but also because of Castiel attachment to his older brother. Before he went back to his truck, he turned his attention to the other crying angel and felt his heart break further. "This is gonna sound crazy kid but is your name Gabriel?"

The little angel with light brown hair and whiskey coloured eyes nodded with tears still streaming down his face. "Yeah. I Gabwiel."

"Yeah. That's what I was afraid of."


	7. Healing

Sage sped back to the motel with Gabriel in the passenger seat and Cas balanced in his lap, hugging Ethan's jacket close to his chest as a comfort blanket. The baby angel had refused to be sat in his car seat and Sage couldn't afford the time wasted by an argument, so this was the compromise. Every so often the younger brother would glance at the little angel in the passenger seat, the boy had wrapped his golden coloured wings around himself tightly with a cluster of the feathers in his tiny hands. Sage cleared his throat causing Gabriel to look up at him, a lot of fear glistening in the boy's whiskey orbs made noticeable when Gabriel tried scooting away from the younger twin. "I'm not gonna hurt you Gabe, I just wanna ask you a couple questions," Sage explained as soft as he could manage with the panic swirling his mind.

Gabriel kept his eyes focus on the cluster of feathers in his hands, stroking a few of them before a few tears slipped down his cheeks. "I go home," he mumbled through the tears and hugged the feathers close to his chest. Sage looked at Gabriel with softened eyes, he knew the home the angel spoke of was Heaven but he didn't know exactly what to say or do. "I know you do kid but you're just gonna have to stick with me and my brother for a little bit," Sage replied with sadness and a degree of guilt lacing his raspy voice. More tears rolled down Gabriel cheeks as the little angel absorbed the younger twin's words, "I no know you."

The three year old's words shouldn't have stung as much as they did but Sage swallowed the unpleasant lump in his throat and looked at Gabriel. "You know me better than you think," Sage remarked with the same saddened tone as before. Gabriel stayed quiet but glanced up at Sage with glistening eyes, "you pwotect me?"

"Yeah bud, I'll protect you," Sage answered with a faint smile tugging at his lips. He turned his eyes back to the road and, under his breath, mumbled, "just like you protected me." Luckily Gabriel never heard him as the boy had snuggled into his wings to further calm himself down.

The truck came to an abrupt halt causing everyone inside to jerk forward. Sage ripped his keys out the ignition and moved Cas on to his hip, quickly exiting the truck and helping Gabriel out of the passenger seat. He locked up the truck, fumbling with his keys as he tried to slide them into his jacket pocket but gave up and ran straight for the motel room. Already his heart was in his mouth, the motel door had been kicked off its hinges and was stamped with large boot marks. Windows had been smashed with shards of glass littering the outside and inside of the room. Sage took Gabriel's hand, squeezing it gently as a whimper from the toddler entered his ear, and cautiously entered his motel room.

The inside was just as bad as the outside, maybe even worse. Books had been thrown from their shelves, the coffee table was now lying on it's side with two broken legs, the sheets had been ripped off the beds as if there had been a struggle and to add to Sage's panic, Dean, Sam and Ethan were nowhere to be seen. The younger brother sat Castiel and Gabriel on the newly tattered couch but the baby angel instantly whimpered and reached out for Sage, anxious to be in his arms. "Hang on Cas. I gotta find the boys and Ethan, just hug his jacket until I do so," Sage instructed gently and, surprisingly, Cas did as he was told. Sage tread over shards of broken glass carefully, scanning the small room for any signs of his brother or the two small boys in their care, but found his eyes drifting to blood spatters on the wall and Ethan's bed sheets. A shiver crept up Sage's spine but he continued further and found himself drawn to a small closet with a chair lodged under the handles. The closer he got, the louder the muffled sobbing and yelling became and urged Sage's temper to flare.

He ripped the chair away from the closet doors, clutching the handle of his blade tightly, and slowly gripped the handle on the closet door. Sage threw the door open and his eyes instantly connected with the frightened orbs of Sam and Dean, both boys now screaming, through the tape around the mouths, for Sage to help them. Sage got on one knee and ran his blade up the tape that was keeping the two boys back to back, peeling it off their clothes and carefully peeling the strips off their lips. Sam instantly wrapped his arms around Sage's neck and buried his face into Sage's shoulder, sobbing and spluttering into the fabric of his shirt. Dean, on the other hand, was still sitting on the floor covering his face with his hands and bracing himself for a hit from Sage. The younger Wolf brother looked at Dean whilst his muscular arms wrapped around Sam, pulling the little boy close to him, and tilted his head with confusion, "Dean? It's okay kid. The bad guys aren't here anymore."

"I'm sorry Sage! I didn't mean to lose Cas or let Ethan get hurt! I tried! I really did! Please don't hit me! I'll do better, I really will!"

Dean burst into a fresh set of tears and Sage felt his heart break at the sight. He pulled Dean close to him and felt the boy latch on to the fabric of his shirt, balling it up in his fists as he cried against Sage's abs. "No kid. This isn't on you, this is my fault. Dean, look at me," he said softly raising Dean head so that their gazes met. "None of this is your fault and I would never punish you with my fists, that's just cruel," he continued and smiled when Dean nodded. The boy buried his face back into Sage's shirt as the younger brother hoisted the two boys on to his hips and walked over to the couch.

He set Sam beside Gabriel and Dean beside Cas, hoping it might ease Dean's mind if he saw the baby angel was unharmed and completely safe. Cas looked at Dean, a huge smile plastered to his lips, and hugged his best friend as tight as he could, "De! De!"

"Cassie! You're okay!" Dean pulled Cas close to him in a tight embrace, more tears spilling on to his cheeks. "Dean? Sam? Where's Ethan?"

Both little boys broke down again, Dean crying against Cas as thoughts of their guardian lying in a pool of his own blood filled his mind and caused him to cry louder. "T-T-They threw him o-o-out the window," cried Dean pointing to another one of the broken windows and quickly turning away to cry on his friend's shoulder. Sage's eyes widened and he vaulted out of the window, not caring about the pieces of stray glass that pierced through his hand as he did so.

Laying in a pool of his own blood with his own blade sticking out of his stomach was Ethan. Sage dropped to his knees beside his older brother, tears cascading down his cheeks as he panicked over what to do. "Hang on bro. You're not going home just yet," he muttered to his brother as he carefully removed the blade from Ethan's stomach. The older brother let out a gravely groan of pain and coughed up splatters of his own blood, the red liquid leaking from the corner of his mouth and pooling at his cheek. "I know it hurts bro but I'm not Raphael, I can't just snap my fingers and the pain's gone," Sage said with more tears falling from his glowing magenta orbs. He picked Ethan up as gently as he could, tensing every time his brother hissed or groaned in pain but managed to bring him inside and rest him on his bed.

The older brother was in bad shape. Beside the obvious stab wound in his stomach, he also had glass shards lining his arms and back along with a few slashes to his chest and bruising around his ribs suggesting fractures. Sage held back all the emotions he was feeling as he peeled off Ethan's blood soaked shirt. Ethan gripped the sheets and gritted his teeth, holding back the screech of agony he wanted to let out but knew it would scare the kids. Sage gripped Ethan's hand tightly, squeezing it reassuringly, "hang on brother. I'm not giving up on you yet."

Ethan awoke with his upper body consumed in pain. He groaned as he propped himself up on his elbows and scanned, the now, tidy motel room. Ethan went to push himself up but felt something tighten around his hand and he glanced down at his side to see Dean sleeping at his side. Both the boy's hands tightly clasped around Ethan's larger hand and, even in his sleep, Dean's grip tightened on his hand as if he was afraid to let go. The older brother took his free hand and placed it gently on Dean's shoulder before shaking the small boy very tenderly.

Dean whined in his sleep but his little emeralds slowly fluttered open. They instantly connected with Ethan's dulled amber orbs and immediately welled up with tears, Dean jumped up on Ethan's bed and wrapped his little arms around the older brother's neck as tight as he possible could. Ethan smiled and enveloped Dean in a firm but tender hug as he heard the sound of the small boy crying into his shoulder, the tears soaking into the clean shirt Sage had put on him earlier. "I'm sorry Ethan, I really tried to keep everyone safe. Please don't be mad at me, I'll do better," Dean cried quietly into the older brother's shoulder whilst Ethan rubbed small circles into the boy's back. "It wasn't your fault Dean, it's my job to protect you not the other way around."

"But I have to protect Sammy and Cassie," whimpered Dean now looking up at Ethan with glistening but puffy emerald eyes. "Yeah bud but me and Sage can help you now. You don't have to do it alone," replied Ethan with a soft smile forming on his lips which quickly crept on to Dean's lips. "Do you feel better now? Did Sage fix you?"

"Yeah kiddo. Raphael would have done a better job but Sage did not to bad." Ethan chuckled as his eyes drifted to the couch where Sage was asleep, Cas and Sam curled up with him but also an unknown figure to Ethan. Before he could over-react, Dean smiled and grabbed his hand, "that's Gabriel. Sage found him with Cassie and brought him back here."

"Gabriel? His name is Gabriel?"

Dean nodded, confused by Ethan's surprise. "Do you know him Ethan?" The older brother stared at Gabriel with soft eyes with surprise glistening in the amber colour, he bend down and run his fingers through Gabriel light brown coloured hair and felt his lips twist into a faint smile. Dean watched Ethan carefully, a confused look still plastered to his face as he looked at the sleeping three year old buried deeply into Sage's side along with his cluster of feathers still tightly clutched in his hands. Ethan looked back down at Dean, chuckling quietly at the boy's confusion, and lifted him on to his hip, "yeah I know him but I think it's time for bed."

The little boy giggled and hugged Ethan tightly causing a warm feeling to erupt inside the older twin's stomach. He smiled at Dean, memories of home and his siblings flooding his mind and causing a tear to stream down his cheek. He planted a soft kiss on Dean's forehead and lay down with the five year old on his chest, Dean smiled up at Ethan and curled up carefully on Ethan's still injured torso. "I love you Ethan," he mumbled into the fabric of the older brother's shirt as his emerald green eyes drooped shut.

Ethan was taken aback by Dean's statement and his warm feeling intensified along with his smile. "I love you too Dean."


	8. Down By The River

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for slow updates guys but my computer wasn't working right. However, I'm back and ready to get back into this!

Sam jolted awake with silent tears cascading down his cheeks. A cold sweat flooded his little body and he tried to regain control of his heavy breathing. He looked around the small motel room frantically, his nightmare convincing him that he had been taken by the bikers and that the twins were lying dead in a ditch.

"S-Swa-Swage? E-Efa-Efan?"

His voice was shaky and quiet, his body trembling as the visions of Ethan's bloody and battered body filled his head and caused more tears to fall down his cheeks. However Sage, even in his deep sleep, heard Sam's quiet cries and a further burning sensation on his wrist woke him. The younger twin's eyes glowed dimly as he examined the motel room from the battered couch he had fell asleep on, trying to pin point Sam in the dark.

"Sam? Come here buddy," he grumbled quietly in his half sleep state. Sam looked up immediately at the sound of the younger Wolf's raspy voice and leapt from the bed he was sharing with Gabriel and Castiel. The four year old pounced on to Sage's chest, taking Sage by surprise and jolting him awake, and clung to him with a surprising amount of strength. "Woah. Sam, what's wrong?"

"A-Are you hu-huwt?"

Sage became confused rather quickly and pushed himself into a sitting position with the small boy still clinging to the fabric of his shirt. The younger twin position Sam on his lap so that the little boy was facing him and brushed a stray hair behind Sam's ear. "Okay, now, why would I be hurt? I took care of the bad guys," Sage asked in a naturally soft tone. "Ni-Nightm-ma-mare," Sam stuttered out, only able to say one word from the entire sentence he had constructed in his head.

"Wanna tell me what happened?"

"I wemember you and Efan were huwt. There was a wot of blood a-and th-then the bad men came back. T-They took me and Dean and Cas and Gabe and--"

Another set of fresh tears began to cascade down the reddened cheeks of the flustered little boy as he recalled his awful dream. Sage, uncharacteristically, started to rub small circles in Sam's back whilst humming a tune from his childhood. It was tune his father had used when Sage was upset or scared but soon became a favourite of his older brothers to use on distress fledglings after terrifying nightmares. Sam found the tune calming and nuzzled into Sage's chest as the younger twin continued humming. "You feel better now kid?"

Sam nodded into Sage's chest, his small hands still holding fistfuls of Sage's shirt as tight as he possibly could. Sage lay back down on the couch, lifting Sam up on to his chest before yanking the blanket up over the two of them. "Sage?"

"Yeah Sam?"

"Will you pwotect me fwom bad things?"

Sage's eyes glowed at Sam's question. The boy's simplistic question said in the quiet, sleep filled voice brought back a memory so clear to Sage, he could've sworn it happened yesterday. The younger twin glanced at Gabriel before looking back at Sam with a soft smile. "Yeah kid. I'll protect you from the bad things," he replied in hushed voice whilst running his fingers through Sam's hair. Feeling safe, Sam curled up on Sage's chest and quickly fell back asleep. Sage sighed and also fell back into his normal deep sleep but his memory began to play out in his head...

 _Sage sniffled quietly and wiped away the stray tears that streamed down his cheeks. More tears just took their place as vivid memories of his nightmare filled his head and took on a more deadly form in his imagination. Yet Sage was silent, he hated waking his older brothers because of his nightmares as they had become more frequent and after Raphael snapped at him last time, Sage decided to keep it to himself._ _Sage's silence didn't stop Gabriel from hearing the soft sobs and long sniffles of his younger brother. He kicked his legs over the side of where he slept and saw the small outline of the small angel on the other side of the room that they shared. "Sage?"_

_He saw his brother freeze immediately and watched the little angel crawl back under his blankets frantically, hoping he really hadn't been caught crying. Gabriel let out a quiet sigh and pushed himself to his feet, slowly approaching the bundle of blankets that housed his younger brother. "Why are you hiding little wing?"_

_"I'm not hiding. I'm just trying to sleep," Sage replied in a quiet, choked up voice but tried to mask it from his older brother. "I know that's not true little wing, please come out of the blankets please," Gabriel cooed as he gently peeled back the blankets to reveal Sage curled up in a tight ball, hugging his knees to his chest with tears streaming down his cheeks. "I-I-I di-did-didn't wa-wanna wa-wake u-up an-any-anyone," Sage whimpered with watery magenta orbs. Gabriel tenderly lifted the small angel into his lap, he ran his fingers through Sage's raven black hair and hummed their father's favourite tune. "You could've woke me Sage. I wouldn't have gotten angry."_

_"Ralph got angry last time."_

_Gabriel chuckled and made a lollipop appear in his hand, motioning it to Sage with a soft smile. "Ralph's always like that little wing. He's a grumpy angel," the older angel explained with a chuckle. Sage let out a quiet giggle and took the lollipop from his older brother and began sucking on it. "Gabriel?"_

_"Yeah little wing?"_

_"Will you always protect me?"_

_Gabriel planted a kiss on Sage's forehead, "of course I will little wing. Of course I will."_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The younger twin awoke with Sam still curled up atop his chest but heard Dean and Cas' quiet giggles from the kitchen table. He assumed Ethan had put cartoons on, on his laptop to entertain the boys whilst his older brother caught a few more winks. Sage sat up slowly, being very careful not to disturb the boy sleeping on his chest. He glanced to the small kitchen area and saw the other three boys huddled around his laptop but, when he looked to Ethan's bed, he couldn't find his older brother.

"Shit," Sage grumbled as he slid Sam off his chest and on to the couch. Dean and Gabriel looked up at Sage, "Sage, what's wrong?"

"Where did Ethan go?"

Gabriel shrugged but Dean pointed to the door. "He went out to get breakfast," the five year old explained. Sage let out a groan, he knew Ethan was stubborn (maybe not a stubborn as him) but didn't think he'd risk collapsing in public just for some average tasting dinner food. He pushed himself off the couch, being careful of Sam, and pulled on his boots. Dean whimpered, "Sage. Where are you going?"

"To go get Ethan before he gets himself killed or worse," Sage replied trying to mask his annoyance but failing as Dean immediately scrambled back to Gabriel and Castiel, thinking Sage was angry with him or would do something worse to him. The younger twin grabbed his jacket just the motel door clicked open and Ethan casually sauntered back into the room with a take-away bag in his hand. He could feel Sage's annoyance and anger as soon as he set one foot through the door but shrugged it off, also completely ignoring Sage's death glares. "Food's here boys," he called to the three small boys that were awake, still trying to ignore his younger brother and his piercing magenta eyes. The boys sat at the table and allowed Ethan to hand out food, Dean quick to help Cas and Gabriel with theirs and completely ignoring his own breakfast. "Dean. I'll get Gabe and Cas' food. You deal with your own," Ethan said softly which earned him a nod from the young boy. "Sam still asleep?"

"Yeah. What the fuck do you call that?"

Ethan groaned and ran his fingers through his hair to calm himself before turning to face his younger brother. "What do I call what Sage?"

"Leaving whilst you're still injured! I don't care how strong you are, you can't just brush off an attack like that!"

The older twin didn't retaliate afraid it would cause another scenario like the other night, instead he just went back over to his bed and lay down with his back facing Sage and the boys. Sage sighed quietly. He had let his temper get the better of him again but hadn't meant for it to happen, the story of his life. He slowly approached Ethan's bed and sat beside his older brother, "Eth I didn't--"

"It's alright Sage. I know you didn't mean to lose your temper but you were right. I should have stayed in bed and waited for you but the kids were hungry and I thought I could do with the walk since I had been passed out," Ethan replied rather quickly, not turning to look at Sage as he was trying to hide the single tear leaking from his amber orbs. Sage gripped Ethan's shoulder, squeezed it gently and sighed, "no man. You were just looking out for the kids. I'd have done the same thing." Ethan was taken aback by what Sage had said, surprised by his brother's words because of the change in attitude Sage was showing and allow he liked it, it also scared him. Had they become too soft? Where they losing their touch?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sage loaded the duffle bags into the trunk of the truck whilst Ethan got the boys ready to move. The sun had just began to set and the younger twin had managed to pin point the location where their next victim would be meeting his client. Ethan was changing the boys into pyjamas with hopes of them sleeping through the job but had to improvise with Gabriel by using some of Sam's pyjamas which were far too big on the rather small angel but would have to do until they could buy him clothes of his own. However Gabriel was very much against the clothing and kicked at Ethan, reminding the older brother of the first time he dressed Cas. "Gabe. That's enough," he grumbled trying to pull the shirt over the little angel's head. "Nwo! You'we gonna huwt my wings!" Gabriel kicked more, trying to free himself from Ethan's grasp but this proved non-effective. Ethan sighed, now it really reminded him of Cas, he looked at Gabriel's slightly oversized golden wings and ran his large hand over them but quickly regretted his decision as, like Cas, Gabriel became frantic at the sudden loss of his wings.

"My wings! You twook my wings!"

Gabriel began thrashing around more in Ethan's arms causing the older twin to gently pin the little angel to the couch, not wanting to hurt the boy, and try calmly explaining what had happened. "Gabe. Gabriel. Calm down, your wings are still there. They're just invisible," Ethan yelled over the loud cries of the three year old kicking at his chest but managed to retain his nature calm and soothing tone. Luckily for Ethan, Cas stumbled over in his pale blue pyjamas and tapped Gabriel's shoulder. "It otay bruda. My ings iwisible too," the baby angel enthused and Gabriel's cries slowly ceased. The little angel looked at Castiel with watery whiskey orbs and sniffled, "weally Castiel?" Cas nodded with a huge grin on his lips and Ethan carefully sat Gabriel back up, smiling softly at the two angels. "See? Nothing to cry over," Ethan cooed, rubbing soothing circles in the little angel's back. Gabriel nodded at Ethan whilst wiping away the stray tears on his cheeks.

Sage walked back into the motel room, spinning his truck keys on his index finger, and looked at the four boys. "They all look pretty tired," he remarked and Ethan nodded in agreement. Sage scooped up Sam and Gabriel, already planning how he would make space in the truck for all four boys, whilst Ethan followed with Dean and Cas in his arms. The older brother strapped Castiel in to his car seat, Sage squeezed Sam and Gabriel on to the middle seat and Dean sat in the window seat.

Ten minutes into the drive, Gabriel began wailing and screaming again but this time the brothers could find nothing wrong. "Sage. Just pull over," Ethan protested but Sage ignored him and continued driving. "We'll miss this fucker if I pull over, he'll need to suck it up for another twenty minutes," Sage argued but Gabriel's cries only got louder and the little angel clutched his stomach.

"Sage! Pull over now!"

Sage growled and sped up. Ethan's rage began to boil whilst Gabe's crying continued but now in distress. Suddenly Gabriel began gagging violently and soon enough vomit covered the floor of the back seat.

"My truck!"

The younger twin suddenly swerved to the side of the road, the sudden jolting movement waking Cas from the sleep he had just fallen into and he began to cry as well. Ethan glared at Sage. "Next time fucking listen to me," he growled as he quickly removed himself from the passenger seat, slamming the door shut in the process, and tended to the baby angel that was sobbing uncontrollably. Sage sighed and got himself out of the car, "I'll handle Gabe," he stated and surprisingly Ethan agreed, mainly because his hands were full with Cas.

Gabriel was covered in his own puke along with the backseat floor, Sam doing his best to comfort his friend. Sage sighed and unbuckled Gabriel and Sam. He lifted the little angel out and opened the trunk, sitting the angel on top of the duffle bags. He pulled off the dirty pyjama top, tossing it aside and grabbing one of his own shirt. "M'sowwy Sage," muttered Gabriel in a weak voice. Sage smiled and wiped a dribble of vomit from Gabriel's chin, "it's okay Gabriel. I should have listened to Ethan and pulled over."

Once Ethan and Sage cleaned up the backseat, gave Gabriel some medication for travel sickness and got Cas to fall back asleep, they went back on the road and headed for the Mississippi river...

Sage switched off the headlights and watched the riverbank closely, excepting to see the shadow of two men. Ethan kept his eyes on the boys, all four happily sleeping curled up to each other with Sam holding Gabriel close to his chest. Dean was leaning against the door, snoring quietly.

"Eth. Look," whispered Sage discretely pointing to the riverbank where two men had appeared. Ethan turned in his seat to face the riverbank, gripping his blade hand and quietly opening the passenger door. Sage followed him, both brothers sneaking over to the bank, their eyes glowing intensely. The two men seemed to be making a deal, Ethan's first instinct was drugs and Sage followed on the same instinct. 

Sage cocked his gun, pulling back the hammer and the click causing the two men to freeze and face the Wolf brothers. One man smirked, setting a backpack on the ground before slowly raising his hands. "Sage and Ethan Wolf. Always a pleasure," he sneered. Sage's eyes glow magenta and Ethan's arm stretched across his chest, keeping him from lunging at the man. "I'm sure this is what Heaven would want for it's most powerful son. Killing innocent people with no orders," the man jeered causing Ethan's eyes to flare brightly with amber. "We kill the evil of earth and you count," Ethan growled.

The man smirked at them. "But would two very powerful beings who hide their identities kill me if I had something they value?" Ethan and Sage growled deeply at him. Sage stepped forward with his gun raised, "what do you have that could possibly interest us?"

The man chuckled evilly and suddenly Gabriel appeared in his arms. Sage's eyes widened and he felt his teeth sharpen. "Drop. Him." The man laughed as Gabriel struggled in his grip. "You should chose your words more carefully your majesty," he sneered again. He picked up Gabriel by the collar of his shirt and hung him over the rushing water. "Much more carefully." He then dropped Gabriel into the icy cold Mississippi water.

Sage's temper completely took over his senses, every ounce of strength and rage he had was concentrated on his mystic core. He howled loudly before fur coated his body and claws replaced his fingernails. Two triangular ears appeared on his head and his veins glowed magenta. Ethan stared at his brother as Sage become a large, black wolf with a magenta stripe running down his back. The wolf that was Sage looked up at the river, his whole eye the same glowing magenta colour as he leapt into the river after Gabriel.

Gabriel tried keeping his head above the water, gasping for air before being dragged back down into the watery depths. Sage paddled hard towards the struggling angel, more rage coursing through his wolf body pushing him harder and faster.

"Sa--"

Gabriel tried shouting but more water splashed on to his face and into his mouth. "Hang on Gabe," Sage muttered to himself, his extra large paws propelling him forward. The water splashed all around Gabriel but it was getting faster as he approached the rapids. Gabriel screamed and Sage's anger skyrocketed. He sped up his paw movements and his teeth latched on to Gabriel's collar, yanking him out of the water and tossing him on to Sage's back.

Sage swam to the riverbank and clawed his way onto solid ground. Gabriel clung to Sage's fur, shaking from the cold attacking his body and from the fear of almost drowning. Sage set Gabriel down, the three year old instantly wrapping his tiny arms around Sage's neck causing the huge wolf to smile. "It's alright Gabriel. I've got you."


	9. One More Angel

Ethan watched the wolf form of his brother dive into the ice cold waters of the Mississippi. His head immediately snapped to the man who was laughing, louder and louder until Ethan mentally snapped, and unsheathed a long silver blade from its holster. The older brother felt his eyes burn brightly with anger as he wrapped his hand around the throat of the man and tripped him on to the ground. He growled deeply, his teeth sharpening at the thought of Gabriel or Sage being hurt and cause an increase in his adrenaline levels. Ethan drove his blade into the man's chest, listening to the scream of pain as it filled the air like a wolf's howl at a full moon. Then the pleading began but Ethan ignored every beg and cry the man made for his life and continually stabbed the torso of the man pinned beneath him.

Then there was silence...

The older Wolf sat by the water, scrubbing the blood from his hands and his blade. His anger and sadness were bubbling and with every movement, Ethan felt more violent until his nails dug deeply into his skin and cut his hand adding to the large amount of blood already soaked into his sleeves. "Fuck," he grumbled trying desperately to heal himself but found his anger blocking his abilities. He let out a primal yell and slapped the water hard before falling back and staring at the sky, the stars all out and twinkling. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

Ethan pushed himself to his knees, clawing at his shirt in a desperate attempt to tear it off his back as his eyes burned brighter with more rage coursing his body. "Why are you doing this to us?! Answer me Goddamn it!"

Silence consumed the river bank again.

"He never liked when you used his name in vain."

Ethan's head snapped in the direction of the voice, instincts forcing him to pick up his blade and point it at the source of the voice. Sage chuckled softly, his own eyes still glowing magenta as he held the small body of the three year old angel close to his chest wrapped in his old, tattered leather jacket to keep him warm. "Take it easy Eth. It's only me," he spoke softly and took a few shaky steps towards his twin. Ethan clambered to his feet at lighting speed, blood soaked and exhausted, and hugged his younger brother tightly being very careful of Gabriel. "Never do that to me again. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you," Ethan whispered to Sage as his grip around him tightened. Sage smiled and used his free arm to hug back, "I know Eth. I know."

\--------------------

Sage held Gabriel close as Ethan raced down the empty stretch of backroad to the nearest motel. The small boy shook violently in Sage's arms, river water still dripping off every inch of his little body and fear still shining in his whisky coloured eyes as his tiny hands clung to the plaid shirt Sage had changed into. "Hang on Gabe. We're nearly there," Sage cooed brushing strands of wet hair away from Gabriel's face. Ethan glanced at the other boys through the rear view mirror, worry flashing in his golden amber eyes, and found that they had slept through the whole commotion. "How are they still asleep?"

"Heavy sleepers," Sage replied as he continued to gently rock Gabriel and try to keep him warm. "S-Swage... I-I n-no f-fwe-fweel good," Gabriel mumbled into the fluffy inner lining of Sage's jacket causing both brothers shot each other worried glances. "Sage. What if he has pneumonia?"

"Fuck. Where's the nearest hospital?"

Ethan handed Sage his laptop and the younger brother made quick work of finding the closest hospital to them. "Nearest hospital is Baptist Medical Center," Sage stated whilst studying Google Maps for the fastest route to the hospital, his hands shaking from nerves and the remnants of river water lurking in his boots. "What street are we on?"

Both brothers searched for a sign to give them an indication of the street name but the road was pretty much barren with nothing more than a few random buildings and a cemetery. Sage looked at the cemetery and spotted a sign with a name, "Ethan. Look. I can find the cemetery name and find the road we're on."

Ethan smiled and patted Sage's back, "nicely done Sage. Nicely done."

Sage looked back at his laptop screen, his eyes darting around for the location of the cemetery and the road running along it. "Here. Cedar Lawn Cemetery. That means we're on West Capitol Street," Sage exclaimed quietly as his finger traced the map for a turn. "Follow the road and then turn on to West Monument Street," Sage explained with his eyes still glued to Google maps. Ethan followed his brother's instructions, making a sharp turn on to the street and following the road until it hit another turn. "Take the turn. That'll take us on to Bailey Avenue," Sage explained further whilst Ethan made another sharp turn. "Where now?"

"Turn right at the 2nd cross street on to West Fortification Street and follow the road until we come to a left turn. Take the turn and the hospital is on the left."

The older Wolf brother followed his twin's instructions and soon they pulled up at the hospital. Sage sprinted inside with the shivering child in his arms whilst Ethan dealt with Sam, Dean and Cas who were all still sleep soundly. Sage ran up to the front desk, immediately catching the receptionist's eye as he panted to catch his breath. "Sir? How can I help you?"

"I... Think my... Little brother has... Pneumonia," Sage panted carefully showing the small angel clinging and shivering against his chest. The receptionist gasped in shock and called paediatric nurses downstairs to collect Gabriel but Gabriel refused to leave Sage's arms, screaming at any attempt to remove him. "Come on Gabe. These people want to help," Sage cooed in attempts to coax Gabriel into letting the nurse take him but the little angel wouldn't budge. "No. I wanna stway wif wu," Gabriel mumbled into Sage's chest. The younger Wolf brother sighed and looked at the nurse, his eyes begging for a way for both of them to stay together. She smiled sweetly, "I'll have another nurse take you upstairs. Is there any other family here?"

"Uh... My brothers are in my truck outside. Navy blue pickup, you can't miss it really," Sage replied as he fixed and secured his jacket around Gabriel's shivering body. She nodded, turning on her heel and walking out to the parking lot whilst another nurse showed Sage to the children's ward. Ethan, on the other hand, was busy trying to shush a now awake and distressed Castiel whilst trying to answer Sam's worries about his new friend. "Gabriel's going to be fine Sam. The doctor is going to check him over and give him medicine," he cooed bouncing Castiel gently in his arms, his eyes glowing brightly as the baby angel's cries got louder. "Dean? Where's Cas' pacifier?"

The eldest boy in the car unbuckled his seatbelt, pushed himself up on to his knees and began digging around Cas' car seat in search of the baby angel's pacifier whilst Ethan continued to bounce and shush the toddler. "I can't find it Ethan," Dean said turning to face the older Wolf brother. "It's alright Dean. Is his wolf there?"

Dean nodded and handed Ethan the stuffed wolf toy the brothers had gotten the night they had found him, the older brother waved the toy in front of Cas making dog like noises and actions causing the baby angel to giggle and wipe away the remaining tears that coated his flustered cheeks. Ethan smiled softly, "there we go. No need to cry," he cooed brushing stray black hairs away from Cas' sparkling blue orbs. Then there was a tap at the window and all passengers in the car looked to see a nurse waving at them sweetly. The oldest Wolf brother stepped out of the vehicle with Castiel still in his arms, the toddler occupied by his wolf toy, and looked at the nurse with confusion. "Are you with brothers that just came in?"

"Tall guy with a little boy attached to his chest?"

"That's him," she answered with cheerful and soothing tone. Ethan walked around the truck to stand in front of her, still bouncing the baby angel in his arms that was now trying to climb on to his back. "Is Gabe okay? The little boy I mean," Ethan asked, his lady talking skills not as polished as his younger brother's and his awkwardness showing. She chuckled at him quietly, "they just took them upstairs to paediatrics. I came out to take you and your little brothers up to them," she replied with a sweet smile. He nodded and helped Dean and Sam out of the truck handing Cas to the nurse. "Go with the nurse boys, I'll be up in a minute," he said softly ruffling Dean's hair, smiling at his charges. Dean nodded and took Sam's hand, following the nurse. Once it was clear that they were gone, Ethan turned to face the other side of the truck and came face to face with a set of electrical wings. He knew exactly to whom the wings belonged but didn't wanted to say it aloud in case it wasn't the person he was thinking of. A shiver ran down the older brother's spine as a deep harsh voice echoed in his ears and circulated his mind, stirring memories of his long forgotten past. "Why are you here?"

The average height coloured vessel of Raphael looked at his younger brother with a complete look of dismay and loathing. "You are a pathetic excuse for an angel Votem. Following your fallen brother, cursing at father and now playing babysitter to these creatures" he listed and each item angering Ethan more. "Don't speak of them that way Raphael, I'm only being loyal," Ethan snapped back. His golden wing suddenly unfolded with a crack of lightning, his eyes glowed even brighter with their signature amber colour and a long golden sheath now attached to his belt. Raphael scoffed, Ethan's impressive design had never impressed him even when the Guardian was a fledgling, "you're a failure Votem. You and Lux. Father was wrong to ever put you here or anywhere."

Ethan growled and unsheathed his sword, it glistened in the moonlight and shook the earth ever so slightly. "My name is Ethan and my brother is Sage. I am proud of who we have become and I don't need my jealous older brother's approval to make me feel good," he snapped swinging his sword at Raphael only to have the archangel disappear. "Coward," Ethan mumbled before transforming back into his human self, his better self. He turned towards the hospital entrance only to feel a tug at the hem of his jacket. Ethan looked down to see a fair haired boy, around eight, tugging at his jacket. He knelt down and tilted his head, recognising the child.

"Balthazar?"

"Ethan."


End file.
